


The Demon Master's Puppet

by Prettywitchiusaka



Category: Codename: Kids Next Door
Genre: F/M, Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-25 20:37:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 45,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10771974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prettywitchiusaka/pseuds/Prettywitchiusaka
Summary: Originally written from June-September of 2010, revised edition written from May 2015-April of 2016. This is the revised edition.Grandfather's back. And this time, he wants Rachel to be his Herald for World Domination. Rachel is determined to defeat him. But with only so much time left, can she find the strength to believe in herself? Or will she loose her identity for good?





	1. Unwanted Meeting

Chapter 1: Unwanted Meeting

Rachel let out a deep, relaxed sigh as she took a whiff of the lavender patch she was lying in.

True, today hadn't been quite as busy for her, unlike the past few days had been. But just like any regular kid, or adult, she could always use some time to ease her mind and body after a long day of work.

And really, how could she not be enjoying herself right now? The grass was soft, the sky as blue as it could be, and the wind was cool and breezy, as it should be during the summer months.

To top it all off, the little girl was dressed in her favourite pair of matching, teal pyjamas. But the best part? There were no deadlines, no impending missions that required the Kids Next Doors' (and by extension, her) immediate attention, and there was certainly no unimportant tasks to attend to.

From the moment she woke up, to the moment she closed her eyes and went to bed, Rachel found herself surrounded by friends, family, and coworkers. All of whom either wanted her opinion on this mission spec, or that delivery, or simply wished to talk to her. Now, she was all by herself, lost in her own conception of paradise, or tranquility as some would call it. Truly, what could be better?

"You call this tranquility?" asked a male sounding voice.

Whoever this voice belonged to, it was booming, it was loud, and it had startled Rachel out of her peaceful state of being.

Sitting herself up, the young girl began scanning the area around her, trying to determine where that voice was coming from.

She got her answer though when she turned around to face a familiar looking fellow. Well, a familiar looking man, so to speak. He was tall and lanky, he had a black beard that flowed all the way down to his waist, and gold eyes as bright as the sun. 

They had only met once, but his very image was one she would recognize anywhere. The upright posture, those skinny, confidently crossed arms, and that evil smirk which rivalled only Fathers'.

"Grandfather?" she asked.

The Demonic man never said a word; he merely continued floating above the lavender patch. That evil sneer ever present on his face as he watched the girl's face. Her frightened, yet confused expression was quite amusing, at least, to him.

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance in person, Miss Rachel McKenzie," Grandfather politely said. "Or would you prefer Numbuh 362?"

And that right there, was the moment that Rachel's chocolate eyes widened with shock.

"What?" she asked. "But…How do you know my name?"

Without warning, the blonde felt his hand cup her chin before he forced her head up to meet his menacing, yellow eyes.

"Oh, I have my ways…," he replied.

Rachel continued to stare at his devilish face; this was all happening so fast, she couldn't keep up with what was happening. And to top that off, his words were not computing for her.

"But, how?" she asked. "We've never even met face to face."

"We have once before, My Dear," the old man answered. "You remember, don't you? When you surrendered your Moon Base to me?"

The young girl flinched when he mentioned their previous meeting; oh, how she wished she could forget that unpleasant memory. To make matters worse, she could see that the old man was chuckling evilly to himself. There was no question about it, he only brought it up to get a rise out of her.

Needless to say, she shot him an annoyed glare.

"It's a shame, too," he replied, making the young girl stare at him in confusion. "You're such a pretty little thing…for a brat, anyway."

Angrily, Rachel swatted his hand away from her chin.

"What do you want?" she asked in her usual, authoritative tone.

"Simple; I have business to attend to," he replied.

"Business?" she asked.

"Yes," the black, bearded man replied as he picked a flower from the field and began keenly observing it. "You could have picked a better place for our meeting, though."

"Honestly; for someone of the upper class, your hobbies are so dull," he remarked. "But then again, you are a child. I suppose I shouldn't be expecting much from you."

In response to that insult, Rachel shot him her famed (and feared) death glare.

"Well excuse me for being a tad disorganized, for once," she replied. "And at least my interests are normal."

Her words did not go unheard, however. Grandfather could not help but cringe at her insult. He only grew angry, however, when he saw the smirk on her face.

"Why you little-"

He stopped himself; he would probably need his strength for later, after all. So the old man took in a deep breath, and let go of his anger. Immediately, he returned to his usual sophisticated, arrogant composure.

"Never mind," he replied. "Now as shocking as this may sound, I didn't come here to merely taunt you."

"Oh really?" the young girl asked as she raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Then why are you here?"

"Why I've come to enact my new Grand Master Plan, of course."

"New Master Plan?" Rachel asked.

"Yes…," the old man replied. "You see, My Dear, Monty may have been able to keep the Pure Evil within me at bay, but he can never truly eradicate it."

"And just as I had done forty years ago, I began plotting my revenge; waiting for the day that I could be reawakened once more," he continued. "But since your Recomissioning Device has been permanently damaged beyond repair (this time), it made me realize that I would need someone to do the leg work for me, whether they wished to or not."

As he rambled on, Rachel sat there, listening to everything the elderly villain said in intense interest. And honestly, hearing his plan made her shake her head in disbelief; his diabolical schemes weren't anything she wasn't used to hearing by now, even if he was more powerful than all of organizations' sworn enemies combined.

Still, there was one question that plagued her; why was he telling her (of all people) all of this?

"So, with that in mind, I simply allowed my soul self to wander through the shadows; spying on all of my potential candidates to be my Herald," he explained.

"His Herald?" she thought to herself. Seconds later, her eyes widened when she realized whom he was (most likely) referring to.

"And, just who did you pick?" the young girl asked, hoping that his response and her hunch would be completely different.

But before he gave her an answer, the old man looked to smile, or rather, sneer evilly at her, to be precise.

"Why you, My Dear," he replied.

Upon hearing that, Rachel gulped, fearfully, and body tensed up; her hunch was correct. Naturally, she didn't say, or do anything for awhile. That is, until she saw the canniving, old gentlemen set the lavender flower in his hand aflame.

With an evil grin now plastered onto his old face, he proceeded to drop the flower and let it fall to the ground. Once it collided with the Earth, it set the rest of the field ablaze. And to make matters worse, the fire moved at a quick pace.

Although shocked and surprised by this sight, the young blonde quickly jumped out of the flower field and landed onto the grass, a stern, assertive glare adorned her face now as she looked up to stare at her opponent.

"That's never going to happen…Not for as long as I live," she sternly declared.

"You should never say never, My Dear," he delightfully remarked. "If I can conform you once, whose to say I can't do it again?"

With that said, the old man quickly flew towards the little girl as if he were lightning. Preparing for her opponent to make his move, the young girl leaped into the air and sent a roundhouse kick towards his face.

Unfortunately for her, Grandfather was quick to dodge.

"His speed is incredible, especially for an old man…," Rachel thought to herself.

In her moment of observation, though, the satanic demon quickly flew in to give her a quick punch. 

Now aware of what his next move would be, Rachel caught his fist in her hand. She then wrapped both (her) hands around his wrist before throwing him over her petite figure. 

Grandfather crashed into the ground with a yelp, and a giant thud. He was quick to recover, though, and he flew back up into the air.   
When his eyes caught sight of her again, she was folding a FRAPPE in her hands, and she wasted no time shooting shot after shot of cold, frosty ice towards him. 

Acting fast, the old man created rings of fire around his wrists. Pointing them towards the on coming ice beams, he shot a stream of fire from both rings, melting the ice into water that dropped onto the dirt.

He then proceeded to swing the streams towards the blonde. But she was quick to dodge as she did a graceful backflip into the air, and landed on her feet seconds later.

"Your grace and technique are impressive," he admitted, he even laughed in earnest. "I only wonder how much longer you can last against me?"

"Funny, I thought you said didn't come here to taunt me," the young girl sarcastically chirped.

"Oh, I didn't. I just find you amusing, is all," he replied.

Creating a giant fireball in his hand, the yellow eyed man sent it flying towards his opponent. Quickly leaping into the air, Rachel dodged the ball in time to land on her feet, and notice that Grandfather was coming towards her for another attack.

Still prepared to face the old man, the young Supreme Leader put her arms up to defend his on coming punch. Once she felt his punch collide with her arms, she pulled out her FRAPPE again, ready to inflict some damage on him, this time. 

Once again, her blasts were intercepted by her adversary and his (literal) shield of fire melting the ice into water.

"You may be a worthy opponent, but you are nothing compared to my son," he taunted. "What makes you think you even stand a chance against me?"

"I may not be Numbuh 0, but I refuse to let my operatives to be oppressed by the likes of of someone like you," Rachel sternly declared.

A passionate flame burned in her chocolate brown eyes as she said her piece, something the elderly demon could not help but take note of.

"Your courage is admirable," the yellow eyed demon remarked.

And suddenly, he vanished into thin air. Surprised, Rachel ceased her fire as she began to look around for her opponent.

"It's a shame you don't scare me."

Hearing his voice from behind her, the young blonde turned around to face him directly. Before she had any time to react, he shot his eye beams directly towards her stomach. Rachel was sent flying into the air, screeching loudly before she finally came crashing to the remains of her flower garden like a meteorite.

When the dust cleared, Rachel was lying flat on the hard ground. Dirt covered her pyjamas as she winced from the pain she felt pulsing through her body. Suddenly though, she felt herself being pulled up by her right wrist into the air, facing a now evil looking Grandfather once she was completely lifted. 

Rachel couldn't lie to herself; she was afraid. Afraid of this man, afraid of what he could, and may very well do to her. Even then, she never showed it in her expression, she stared sternly into her enemy's evil looking eyes.

"What do you want from me?" the young Supreme Leader asked.

Once again, her eyes were lit aflame with passion, and determination. Seeing this, all Grandfather could do was let out a hearty laugh at the girl and her attempts to look strong in front of him.

"You really are a feisty little brat, aren't you? I can see why that idiot is so smitten with you," he commented.

All Rachel could do, though, was stare at him in confusion at that last part. Who was this "idiot" he was referring to.

"But I do wonder how long it will take to strip all of that away from you?" he pondered.

Hearing that, however, made the young blonde snap back to the reality of the situation as she bore her stern glare into Grandfathers' eyes, once more.

"I will never join you!" she growled.

He smiled at her sinisterly.

"I think you'll come to find that you have no say in the matter," the elderly demon replied, much to her terror.

And as he said his piece, his right, index finger began to glow that same, eerie green colour that encased both her, and the world only six months ago. 

Rachel felt her heart go into her stomach when she saw this sight. But before she could ask what he was going to do, the little girl could feel his fingernail scratching against the soft skin on her right hand.

She screamed, unable to tolerate the pain he was causing her as whatever he engrained into her hand continued to burn her skin. Grandfather, on the other hand, could feel his lips forming into a satisfactory smile. Her screams were music to his old ears.

Once the engraveing was complete, he let go of the little girl, allowing her body to collapse to the now lifeless ground.

Rachel let out a groan as she brought herself to her knees. Her muscles were still sore, and she even flinched when she felt the pain in her right hand. Just what had he done to her?

Curiosity getting the better of her, she held her hand up for an answer. It didn't ease her suspicion, though. If anything, it made her even more confused. It was some kind of symbol, or a coat of arms (to be more specific) of a snake wrapped around a sword.

"We'll be in touch," said Grandfather.

Rachel looked up to witness the man floating above her; his tone had been polite, but his expression was clearly one of mockery.

He then flew off, making her angry.

"Wait a minute! Come back here!"she shouted at the top of her lungs. "I demand an explanation for this! Why would you-"

Suddenly, a strange pattern of lightning began to surge from the engraved mark upon her hand.  
Catching her attention, Rachel could not help but gaze at the violent reaction that began to surge from her engraved hand. What had once been anger had now reverted back to fear as she gazed at her marked hand, unsure of what kind of spell or charm it was about to bestow upon her.

End Chap. 1


	2. The Mark's Curse

Chapter 2: The Mark's Curse

Rachel groaned for a bit, she could swear there was some sort of light shining right into her face. Had she forgotten to turn off her nightlight before going to bed again? Or was it the curtains she didn't close, either?

"Honestly! Does it always have to be so bright this early in the morning?" she thought to herself. 

Getting up meant another day of work on Global Command. Another day of handing out assignments she had zero time to take on, herself. Or worse still, yet another day of filling out paperwork for Hamster regulations.

At this point, she felt more inclined stay curled up in bed all day and let Herbie deal with it. Filling out all of the Hamster Unionization forms in one go had been his idea, after all. Not hers.

Wait a minute…Her bed? Her nice, warm bed? Wasn't she fighting off Grandfather just now? What was going on, exactly?   
She opened her chocolate eyes to get an answer, only to find herself in her purple tinted bedroom, with its expensive furniture, and the shelf dedicated to Doctor Time Space in the corner next to her closet.

The little girl continued laying in the same spot for a moment, and in a dazed state, no less. It was hard to tell if she was still dreaming, or not. 

But soon, her concentration came into focus. She could feel the soft sheets she was sleeping on, the knots in her hair she would need to comb out later, even the left over sleep in her eyelashes.

"It was all a dream," she happily chirped aloud.

There was no question about it; she was in the world of the waking.

With a small sigh of relief, the young blonde sat up in her bed and raised her arms high above her head. It's like her father always used to say; nothing like a good stretch to start the day off.

But while Rachel felt great after a (mostly) good night's rest, something still felt off to her. Her right hand; it felt dry, and cramped.

"That's strange…Why does my-"

She froze as soon as her hand came into vision. It couldn't be possible. No, it shouldn't be possible. The whole thing with Grandfather, it was just a dream, right? She was awake, now, yes?

Well, that wasn't possible, either. Because what she stared at, was her hand. Her (now) giant, clawed, desaturated Citizombie hand, to be exact.

A clever hoax, or a nightmare come true? Rachel couldn't be sure. The only thing she did know for certain, was that she was terrified. Enough that she let high, ear piercing scream.

Of course, her screams did not go unheard. For seconds later, two people burst into the young blonde's room. The first, was Harvey McKenzie, or Numbuh 363, Head or Sector W and Rachel's little brother. The other, was Helga, the McKenzie's trustworthy maid and care taker.

Both of them entered the room, simultaneously. Armed with their own unique weaponry, just in case. 

In Harvey's tiny hands, he held a BOTTLER, his finger ready to pull the trigger at any time, if necessary. But Helga? She carried a metal bat. It wasn't anything fancy, no. But it would certainly get the job done.

"Miss Rachel…Huh?" said Helga, confused at what she saw.

Instead of being in peril, like she had assumed, her Mistress was lying awake in bed. Her body covered entirely by the magenta comforter, and a small smile on her face.

"Oh, Harvey. Helga. Good morning," said Rachel. "Pretty rare to see you two up so early on a Saturday."

Her tone was sweet and cheerful, and perhaps a touch sarcastic. Regardless, that tone of voice made Helga raise an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Miss Rachel, are you feeling alright?" the middle aged woman asked.

"Oh…not really…I just have a really bad tummy ache, right now," the girl explained.

After hearing her explanation, Harvey couldn't help but raise his own eyebrow, though not in suspicion. Rather, he raised his eyebrow in annoyance.

"Wait; that's why you screamed at the top of your lungs and woke us up!?" he asked.

"Oh…that…," she said with a nervous chuckle. "I just realized that I have a ton of work to catch up on, and depending on how I'm feeling by lunch, I may need to pull an all nighter, again."

"Enough that you'd scream bloody murder?" Helga asked.

Rachel cringed at that question. As if the (suspicious) tone of her voice wasn't enough, the stern, cold look on her face made it clear that the middle aged woman refused to buy that little, white lie.

"Well…I admit that was an…overreaction on my part," she sweetly replied. "But I'm sure that things'll work out better than I expect them to. They always do, right?"

Sadly, this didn't diffuse Helga's suspicion. Why her Mistress was lying to her face, she didn't know. Still, she chose to let it go with a disgruntled sigh.

"Well, if you're going to stay home this morning, tell me…Is there anything special you would like for breakfast once your stomach is feeling better?" the maid asked. 

Hearing that question, made Rachel sigh with relief.

"Uh…How about a bacon and cheese omelette?" she asked.

Once she got an answer, Helga's face softened into a smile.

"Very well, I'll see to it that you get one, today. Sleep well, Miss Rachel," she calmly replied.

She then quietly made her way back into the hallway, gently scurrying Harvey out of his sisters' room as she closed the door. Her hand just inches away from the boy, making sure she didn't actually touch him.

When they were back in the hallway, the buck-toothed boy couldn't help but pout at the adult walking beside him.

"No fair! How come Rachel gets to stay home "sick", and I don't?" he asked aloud.

"Because if Miss Rachel wanted us to know what was going on, she would have told us," Helga explained.

The bratty boy ceased his whining the moment he heard his maids' explanation.

"Oh yeah," he replied.  
…………………………………..

Back in her room, Rachel let out another relieved sigh as she pulled the cursed hand up from underneath her bedsheets.

The night before, it looked just like any other hand you may find on any young girl her age. Now, it was so old and wrinkled looking, she couldn't help but stare at it in disgust.

How could she have been so ignorant? Grandfather was almost God-like in his power; it's why he was why he was so intimidating, to begin with. What made her think he couldn't invade or inflict damage on someone in their dream realm? Much less her own?  
Still, the old man had made one thing perfectly clear to the young blonde; he had chosen her, specifically, to be his Herald. Even worse, he was prepared to blackmail her into it, by any means necessary.

Never the less, the young blonde decided to keep any of these negatives feelings she was having at bay. Surely there had to be a way to reverse this spell put upon her, yes? No, of course there had to be a way. It would probably require a little more research, is all.  
But there was still one, important question on her mind. A question that would need an immediate answer.

"Well, at least I have the morning off, for once," she thought over. "Now all I need is someone to call in sick for me."

Yes. But who could she ask to call in sick for her?

Fanny? Not likely. While the Global Tactical Officer would be her best choice, there's no way it would happen. The Irish girl had come down with a bad case of head cold, and was still recovering. Even if they were best friends, Rachel felt wrong about disturbing her.

Sector V? Out of the question. Sure, they'd have no problem calling sick for their dear friend and superior. But both Nigel, and Abigail will most likely grow suspicious from her cover story. Plus, there was the issue of Alex, and her ability to sense peoples' auras.

Harvey? Again, it was out of the question. He was already suspicious (and annoyed) of her weird behaviour from a few minutes ago, there was no doubt in her mind that he'd pry her for information regarding why she would need him to call in sick on her behalf.

Was there anyone else? Well, yes, actually; Patton. But that realization made Rachel groan in regret. She really didn't want to lie to him, of all people. Though at this point, what choice did she have?

With a regretful sigh, the young blonde grabbed her cell phone and went to dial the boys' cell phone number. Unfortunately, she had momentarily forgotten about her giant hand, and thus, didn't realize she was pushing two buttons at once until she heard them go off at the same time.

She growled in frustration.

"Of course it had to be my dominant hand. Why wouldn't it be?" the girl asked herself as she began dialling Patton's number with her left hand.  
………………………………….

Patton, meanwhile, was sitting comfortably in his kitchen chair and taking in the the rays of the sunlight that gently spilt into his houses' small, yet cozy kitchen. It was one of the perks of being Drill Sergeant Supreme of Kids Next Door Arctic Base, as far as he was concerned. Sure, he had to get up early, make sure he could be ready to leave home, and then be there for 9 AM., sharp. But it was worth it, especially when he could feel the warm sun on his face so early in the day.

Most kids in his position would probably hate having to be up so early, especially during their summer vacation, no less. But the fact that Patton was so eager to be up at such an early hour of the day should come as a surprise to anyone who knew him, well.

After all, he was Numbuh 60; the infamous, hard working military operative, who followed the Kids Next Door's Drill Sergeant Supreme Guidebook to the letter. Even if he was tired, a little sleep loss wouldn't stop him from keeping up with punctuality. 

Besides, being an early riser (certainly) had other benefits. For Patton, in particular, it meant that he got to watch his best friend and second in command, Jeffery, or Numbuh 600 stuff himself silly with his moms' neighbourhood famous pancakes.

"Keep em' coming, Mrs. Drilovsky!" the blue eyed boy happily chirped with a stuffed mouth of food.

His request was soon answered when a pretty, young woman with long, black hair happily walked over with a plate of fresh, stacked pancakes. 

Who was this woman? Why it was none other than Patton's mom, Lilian Drilovsky.

"There you go, Jeffery. A fresh plate of pancakes with extra maple syrup; just the way you like it!" she happily chirped.  
Of course, what she didn't see was Jeffery eyeing the plate, drooling over the freshly prepared food with the utmost delight, like he was a dog salivating over a fresh, juicy steak.

"Mrs. Drilovsky, you make the best pancakes in the whole town!" the boy happily replied before he began cutting up his pancakes.

"Oh, thank you. Anything for my guests," she sweetly replied. "Oh, that reminds me; Patton, sweetie, would you like seconds?"

"That's okay, mom," he replied.

Though not before beaming a devilish smirk towards his gluttonous friend.

"I'm good with Jeff's Breakfast Show routine," the young boy deviously remarked.

Jeffery on the other hand, shot him an annoyed glance.

Though before the blue eyed boy could say anything in his defence, a loud, obnoxious beeping sound could be heard, and it was coming from one of the pockets on Patton's cargo pants.

It took the boy a second to realize that it was his cell phones' ring tone, but not long at all before he pulled the black object out to check the caller ID.

That's what puzzled him, though; it said "Out of Area." Who did he know that didn't live in his direct vicinity? Well, whoever it was, Patton got up from his chair and walked over the front hall for some privacy.

Now that he could finally be by himself, the young boy lifted up the cell phone cover and pressed the device to his ear, curious to know who this mystery caller was.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Hi, Patton," said a familiar voice that made Patton's eyes widen in surprise.

It didn't take long for the boy to recover, though. Not even a minute went by, and already, that signature, Drilovsky smirk was back on his face.

"Rachel, hi. So what do I owe the pleasure of hearing from you so early in the morning?" he asked, flirtatiously. "Did I act too impulsively for your tastes, again?"

"Cut the jokes, Patton. I need you to do a favour for me," she replied.

Upon hearing her say that she needed a favour, Patton's face and demeanour turned serious. Sure, Rachel never asked for favours often, especially from him. But he was more than happy to oblige if she needed one.

"Sure. What's going on?" he asked.

"Well, you see. I had an accident this morning," she explained. "I fell out of bed and broke my arm."

"You broke your arm!?" the boy nearly screamed into the phone. "How did that happen!?"

"Oh, I don't know," she lied through her teeth. "I guess I was still asleep when I went to go turn off my alarm, and I fell out of bed."

Now that he'd listened to her entire story, the young boy breathed a sigh of relief. At least it wasn't anything too serious.

"Oh, that's a relief," he replied. "So, what do you need then?

"Well, I was wondering if you could call in sick for me? I'll be back after lunch, so that shouldn't be too hard on Herbie," she sweetly explained.

This, however, made Patton raise an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Why can't you just do that, yourself?" he asked.

"Well, I would, but my computer is on the fritz, right now, so I can't really call, myself. You know?" she asked.

"Oh, okay," said the boy.

So her computer was on the fritz? It happens to everyone at some point, the boy knew that better than anyone when his dad's laptop nearly fried itself, last month. Maybe Jeffrey was right; maybe being in the Kids Next Door for too long really had made him paranoid.

"If you want, Rache, I could come pick you up during my lunch break," he offered. "That way, you won't have to take the shuttle to Global Command-"

"No!" she screeched into the phone, surprising him.

"I mean, don't worry about it, Patton. I can get there on my own, okay?" she reassured him.

It's a good thing they weren't communicating through video transmission, otherwise she would have seen the suspicious glare on Patton's face right about now.

"Sure, that's fine," he replied. 

"Alright then. Thank you, Patton," she chirped sweetly.

"Yeah, don't mention it," he replied. "See you later."

"Thanks, you too," she replied as she hung up on her end of the phone.

Patton soon followed suit and hung up on his end, too. Still, he couldn't help but continue staring at his phone, lost in thought.

He knew her long enough to know when she was lying through her teeth. Whether she had good reason to do so or not, he couldn't tell for sure. He was certain of one thing, though; she had lied to him, and he didn't like it one bit.

"What are you hiding, Rachel?" he thought to himself.  
……………………………………………….

Rachel, on the other hand, had curled herself up into a ball, and was now placing her head onto her knees in shame, completely disgusted with herself at the moment.

Was it a necessary evil, given her current predicament? Oh, most definitely. But it certainly didn't make her feel any less sleazy for lying to one of her oldest, and dearest friends.

"I'm so sorry, Patton…," she whispered.

End Chap.2


	3. Lies and Deception, Colds and Destruction

Chapter 3: Lies and Deception, Colds and Destruction

Moon Base Zero, also known as Kids Next Door Global Command. Like any high tech facility, it had a bridge. And, by that same token, it was also (by far) the busiest room on the base. And given that Global Commands' operatives treated this place as though it were a living, breathing metropolis already, that's saying something.

Normally, at this time of day, Kids Next Door operatives of all ages and nationalities ran in and out of the room, with either important missions that need to be sent out to various operatives, or they need to grab something that would help complete their own work. Some operatives went passed that, however, and were simply playing Whisby where they weren't suppose to be.

But with the announcement that their beloved Supreme Leader wouldn't be arriving till sometime after lunch, today, the room was practically dead.

At least, that's how things seemed to Herbie, or Numbuh 65.3. Today was any normal day for him, though, as he sat at his work station, sorting out mission specs and which ones needed to be sent to which sectors, trying to ignore the unusual silence, even if it was unnerving for him.

In fact, the plump boy was so focused on his work, he hadn't even noticed a familiar, blonde figure come up from behind him. Who was this familiar figure? Why it was Rachel, of course. She looked no different than usual, save for the supposed "cast" being held in a sling tied around her neck.

"Good afternoon, Numbuh 65.3," she said politely.

With a yelp, the nerdy boy turned around in his swivel chair, only to find himself pleasantly surprised by the cheerful face of his Supreme Leader staring (directly) at him.

"Numbuh 362, Sir!" Herbie shouted as he saluted his leader and fellow operative.

"At ease, Herbie," Rachel calmly retorted.

With a sigh of relief, he sat back down in his comfy work chair.

"Sorry, I just didn't expect you back so soon, Sir," Herbie explained.

"Oh, that's alright," she replied. "Besides, I'd much rather be here than stuck in some hospital room for two or three weeks, at best."

"Yeah," replied Herbie. "I was actually surprised when Numbuh 60 phoned this morning and told me you weren't coming in until lunch."

"Yes, well I would have called in myself, but I was having problems with the satellite feed on my computer for some reason," Rachel explained.

"Well, I'm not surprised," the plump nerd retorted. "That computer of yours is so old. You really need to give that thing an upgrade, Sir."

"Yes, I suppose I do," she replied, doing her best to hide her annoyance. "Now then, what's on my schedule for today, Numbuh 65.3?"

"Well, your monthly inspection of Arctic Base is today, and you have a giant stack of papers on Hamster Regulations to read and sign, for tomorrow."

"Lovely," she bluntly replied.

"Well, it could be worse, Sir; you could have two whole stacks of paperwork to sign, like Numbuh 86," he pointed out.

"I know; at this rate, she's going to fall so behind in her work," the young girl replied.

"You don't have to tell me twice. She muttered something about the Common Cold regretting the day he became a super villain when she called in sick, this morning," Herbie explained.

Rachel couldn't help but chuckle at this statement. At least the Irish redhead could get vengeance on the Common Cold for what he'd done to her, she wasn't even sure if she could even solve her own dilemma at this time, let alone defeat Grandfather at his own game.

"That sounds like Fanny," the blonde replied. "Now as for my schedule, tell Numbuh 60 he can expect me to arrive at around 4:30, this afternoon."

"And the paperwork?" he asked.

"Have it sent to my office, immediately," she replied. "I'll need to start looking over those documents now if I don't want to fall behind."

"Yes, Sir," the nerdy boy replied before saluting his superior once again. "Oh, and Sector V might be coming to visit, today."

"What!?" she screeched, before clearing her throat. "I mean…Really?"

"Well…yeah. They just completed a mission retrieving the blueprints of our ILLUSOCABIN from Chester," he explained. "Numbuh 1 said they might stop by and check up on you."

"Oh, I see," replied the blonde in her usual, cheerful tone.

Thank Zero, the nerdy boy didn't notice the panic forming clear as day on her face as she turned away from him.

"No! This is exactly what I feared would happen!" she thought to herself. "If Alex senses the presence coming from my hand, then I'll have no choice but to tell them the truth!"

Before she could erupt into a full, blown panic attack, though, the young girl took in a deep breath to calm herself down.

"Alright, Rachel. Calm down," she thought. "All you need to do is-"

"Hi, Numbuh 362!" chirped a familiar, cheerful voice.

With a yelp, Rachel felt herself pulled out of her own thoughts as she turned to faced what she had feared most. 

Well, sort of, anyway. 

It was only Kuki, or Numbuh 3 of Sector V. Her sweet, care free grin on her face as she waved a friendly hello to her friend and superior.

And of course, she wasn't alone.

"Hello, Rachel. How are you doing?" asked a familiar, British sounding voice.

Immediately, the young blonde felt her heart go into her stomach the moment she looked up to see another familiar face. It was Nigel, or Numbuh 1. And he was being followed by his teammates, Hoagie and Wally. Or, Numbuhs 2 and 4, respectively.

"Oh…Good afternoon, Sector V," she said.

Then Rachel noticed something peculiar; two of their teammates were absent.

"Where's the rest of your team?" the young girl asked.

"Numbuh 5 will be here with Two-Seventy-Three, shortly," Nigel answered.

"Yeah, she hasn't been doing so well since she got sick, yesterday," Hoagie added on.

"Alex is sick?" asked the young Supreme Leader.

Could it be true? Had her prayers been answered? Either way, she got her answer the moment she heard someone with a very hoarse sounding cough enter into the room. 

One of the two people she could see coming into the room was Abigail Lincoln, or Numbuh 5. Though she wasn't the one suffering from a coughing fit.

No, that would be the person she was escorting into the room; Alex, or Numbuh 273. A telekinetic mutant who had joined Sector V a little over a year ago. 

And from what Rachel could see, the brunette did not look well, at all. Her face was red, she was sniffling, and looked like she was having a hard time keeping herself balanced, even with Abigail's help.

"Hey, did drinkin' that Ginger-ale help ya', at all?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah," the mutant brunette replied. "Maybe when we get back to the treehouse, we can stuff a couple of gerbils up my nose and see how long it takes them to start their own Republic."

Not surprisingly, the black girl shot her mutant friend a glare.

"Don't back sass Numbuh 5, girl," Abigail replied. "Not when she's trying' ta' help ya'."

As if she realized (instantly) what she'd done wrong, the brunette curled her lip up, and made her eyes widen into giant, puppy dog eyes. All the while staring at her friend in fan girlish glee, at least as much as she could muster up in her current condition.

"I'd never back sass you, Abby-sama!" she replied.

Abigail, however, could only raise an eyebrow in suspicion.

"I don't know," she replied as the duo met up with the rest of their friends. "That still sounded like back sass, ta' me."

"Good afternoon, Numbuh 5, Numbuh 273," Rachel said. "Sorry to hear that you're sick, Alex."

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's not so bad," the brunette replied. "I just wish my head didn't feel like a twenty-pound rutabaga."

When Kuki heard that, she placed her hands on her hips and shot her friend an annoyed glare.

"Well then why didn't you stay home, like I told you to!?" she asked.

"Oh come on," Alex replied. "You know I can't just sit around and sleep all day. I'd go crazy."

"Yeah, but you already are crazy. Maybe getting' a cold and sitting' around would do you some good," replied Wally while a smirk surfaced on his face. 

Alex shot the short Aussie an annoyed glare.

"Not on your life, shortie," she replied.

"So, Alex; How have your powers been since yesterday?" Rachel asked.

"Oh, the usual," replied Alex. "I'm blowing stuff up when I sneeze, I'm seeing auras all over the place, and I'm having premonitions that make no sense. Nothing out of the ordinary, re-"

Was all the mutant girl could say before being cut off by an on-coming sneeze. A sneeze that made both Sector V, and their leader cringe in fear. And really, who could blame them? Especially when they knew what was coming.

"Oh, no. Not again!" Nigel panicked.

"Quick, get her away from all communication devices!" the young Supreme Leader cried out.

But it was too late; Alex's sneeze had already come to pass. Thankfully, it was only a small one. So small, in fact, that the only noticeable damage was that a tiny piece of Herbie's desktop was blown off.

With the worst behind them, the group of children breathed a huge sigh of relief. All that is, except for Wally, who looked more cheesed off, than anything.

"That's it!?" he asked. "You got us all worked up, for that!?"

Alex shot him a glare.

"Hey, it could've been worse," Hoagie said in her defence. "She could've blown up something huge…like my poor MERRY-GO-ROCKET…"

"For the umpteenth time; I'm sorry!," the mutant replied.

Despite the position her friend currently found herself in, the young Supreme Leader couldn't help but find herself quietly chuckling at how this scene of events was unfolding. It did her heart good to know that her mutant friend was blending in so well with her teammates, even if she'd only been a member of Sector V for nearly a year at this point.

At the same, though, she couldn't help but feel relieved. With Alex's powers out of whack due to her cold, she was unable to sense the dark presence (no doubt) penetrating from her bandaged arm.

Seeing this as the perfect getaway, Rachel began to make her way towards her office.

"You seem to be in a hurry, today," said a voice that startled the young girl before she turned around to face Nigel.

"Oh, well it can't be helped, Nigel," she replied. "Sometimes, I'm busier on certain days than other, you know?"

"Oh, Numbuh 362. Can I ask what happened to your arm?" Kuki asked. "It looks like it's swollen."

"Oh, I sort of sprained my arm when I fell out of bed today, and had to go to the hospital," the young blonde explained. "That's why I was absent, this morning."

"Uh, no offence, Numbuh 362, but don't ya' think that bandage is a little too big fo' ya' arm?" asked a suspicious sounding Abigail.

"Oh…," she paused. "Well I was adjusting the bandages after I had a shower, this morning. So, they're not as neat as they'd normally be."

This made the black girl raise an eyebrow of suspicion.

"Really?" she asked. "Cause I've neva' known you ta' be sloppy when it comes ta' First Aid."

Alex's eyes widened in realization upon hearing that, mainly because her friend brought up a very good point.

"Yeah. That's true," she replied.

Rachel gulped nervously; already she could see the wheels turning in their collective heads. The many questions they would no doubt, demand an answer to.

"Ah, lighten up, guys," Hoagie replied. "She might be able to make a great play now that she's got the perfect "cast!"

As usual, he began to laugh enthusiastically, pleased with his latest pun. And also, as per usual, Abigail was annoyed by his horrible pun. So much so, she took her signature red baseball hat, ready to smack him over the head.

"Give me the hat, Numbuh 5," said Wally as he scooped up the hat from his friend, and walked over to his (still laughing) chunky friend.

Without warning, the Aussie quickly, yet swiftly whacked him over the head, making Hoagie scream in pain as Wally returned the hat to a devious looking Abigail.

"Thanks, man," she said as she placed the hat back atop her head.

"Don't mention it," the Aussie replied while he pridefully crossed his arms.

"Thank you, Numbuh 4," Nigel replied whilst keeping his eye on Rachel. "This is a serious issue, after all."

This angered the young Supreme Leader, profusely.

"There's no serious issue at hand here, Nigel," she replied.

"Yeah, too bad you actin' defensive doesn't help yo' case," Abigail pointed out.

"Well excuse me. But wouldn't you be offended too, if your friends started to accuse you of lying to their faces!?" she asked.

"Not with that attitude," the mutant girl replied.

"Fine then. Believe what you want to believe, but I know what I think," she sternly replied. "Now if you excuse me, I have paperwork to attend to."

"But, Sir, your paperwork's still in my office," Herbie reminded her.

She was silent for a moment.

"Then have it sent to my office, immediately," the young girl angrily replied as she made her way out of the room.

Once she made her exit, the room went quiet again. Until Kuki spoke up, that is.

"Well, that was awkward," the little Asian girl commented.

"Yeah, that was kind of aw-oww!" Hoagie remarked as he rubbed the sore spot on his head. "Geez, Numbuh 4, did you have to hit me so hard?"

"Well, you weren't taking the issue seriously, Numbuh 2," Nigel reminded him.

"Hey, I was taking this seriously. I'm just not above adding humour to lighten the mood," Hoagie defended.

"More like adding' stink bombs wherever possible," Abigail muttered under her breath, making her mutant friend giggle with delight.

"I still wish we weren't so hard on her," Kuki said.

"Well, it can't be helped, sometimes," Hoagie explained.

"Yeah, but we could've just used Two-Seventy-Three," Wally pointed out.

"Yeah, but I know Rachel-san well enough that I don't really need to use my powers on her," Alex replied.

"So, Boss; you think she's gonna' have a problem on her hands," the black girl asked her friend and leader.

"There's no denying that Rachel is lying to us, it's just a matter of knowing why," the British boy replied.  
…………………………………………………

What Sector V didn't know, however, was that Rachel felt even more disgusted with herself than she had been this morning. A small sigh even managed to escape her mouth as she slowly opened the door to her office.

"I'm sorry, guys…,"she whispered to herself.

End Chap. 3


	4. A Ghost from Citizombie's Past

Chapter 4: A Ghost from Citizombie's Past

It was now four thirty in the afternoon, and Arctic Base was buzzing with all kinds of activity. In every nook and carny of the building, operatives were running about. Some operatives ran to a class they were scheduled to teach, and some needed to get certain folders worth of paperwork to the mailroom before the end of their shift. Patton, however, was a different story.

With the announcement that their Supreme Leader would be arriving for her monthly inspection of the Kids Next Doors' most important base (after Moon Base, of course), the boy had handed all of his afternoon training sessions to Numbuhs' 44A, and 44B.  
Not that this was unusual for him to do on the days their Supreme Commander visited. Rachel was the kind of leader who demanded working order and detail, and he was more than happy to deliver on those expectations.

Under his tight regime, he worked his operatives harder, checked with Arctic Base security to make sure their defences were in tip top condition, all without the slightest hint of a cookie break (or hot chocolate break, in his case).

Yes, if their Supreme Leader was to be visiting the treehouse for inspection, nothing was going to get past the great Numbuh 60.  
Although, he really didn't need an excuse to ensure that the underground base was in working order. Patton was the kind of General who expected perfection from both his cadets, and his operatives. If there was even one kid under his watch who was slacking off, then by Zero, he'd make it a top priority to whip them into shape.

But that's not what was on his mind at the moment as he and Jeffery stood inside the tree houses' giant hangar, waiting for their Supreme Leader to arrival. No, what occupied the young boys' thoughts were the same ones that'd been bugging him since early this morning.

Why did Rachel lie to him? Was she in serious trouble? Was she trying to keep him, and (by extension) everyone in the dark about it?   
Or was he really just being paranoid about that phone call? He didn't know. But that wasn't going to keep him from discovering the truth. If she even was lying, to begin with.

Jeffery, on the other hand, was completely unaware of his friends' thoughts at the moment. Instead, he was rambling on about his job, like a grumpy adult after a long day of work might do.

"Geez, that Kyle kid is so annoying! Don't you think?" the boy asked. "I mean, seriously. I tried explaining to him what you always say about Hide and Seek." 

"You know what he said to me? "That's the stupidest logic I've ever heard of in my life!"" the boy continued with a growl. "I swear to Zero, I'd punch him if I ever got the chance. Right, Patton?"

He turned to face his commanding officer, but groaned in annoyance when he saw that not even his own best friend was paying any attention to him.

"Hello? Earth to Patton?" he asked.

"Huh?" said the boy as he turned to face his blue eyed friend. "Oh, yeah, Cadet Kyle's a real pain in the butt, sometimes."

The two friends fell silent for a moment until Jeffery put a hand on the raven haired boys' shoulder.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked. "You're usually pretty talkative when it comes to cadet evaluation."

Hearing his friends' observation, Patton let out a small sigh.

"Sorry, Jeff," he replied. "I'm still thinking about that phone call I got from Rachel, this morning."

"Oh yeah. You never did tell me what that call was about," the blue eyed boy replied. "Did you do something to cheese her off, again?"

"No, nothing like that," the raven haired boy explained. "I just can't help but feel like she was lying to me."

"About what?" his friend asked.

"About breaking her arm, calling in sick for her, that her communication with Moon Base just so happened on the fritz-"

"Well, hold on a second, you don't know for a fact that she was lying to you," Jeffery replied.

Patton, on the other hand, could only stare stoically at his best friend for a moment.

"Yeah, well, I'm not so sure," he replied. "But I intend to find out when the inspections' over."

"And how are you going to do that, exactly?" asked Jeffery. "It's not like you can just walk up to her and say; "Hey, Rache. How's it going? About that phone call, this morning, were you lying to me?"

At this, Patton smirked.

"I have my ways," he replied. "You see, Rachel has little bad habit of blinking twice whenever she lies."

"Really?" the naive boy asked. "Wait a minute; then how could she have been top spy with a tick like that?"

"Well, it helps that only Numbuh 86 and I know about it," he explained with a chuckle."In fact, we used to make fun of her for it all the time when we were all still in the nursing sector."

As Patton finished his story, he could hear the sound of jet hummers preparing to make a soft landing. Turning their attention to the landing pad, the boys watched as a familiar purple coloured ROADSTAR slowly began to place itself down on the intended parking space.

Once it was safely in park, the driver carefully, yet gracefully hopped out of the vehicle, and made their way towards the two commanding officers. Not surprisingly, the person in question was none other than Rachel, herself.

"Numbuh 60, report in' for duty, Sir!," Patton yelled as both he, and Jeffery gave their leader a firm salute.

"At ease, gentlemen," Rachel replied as she made her way towards the duo. "And good afternoon, Numbuh 60."

Despite the nagging feeling of suspicion that wouldn't go away, Patton couldn't help but let a small smirk form on his face as she greeted him.

"Good afternoon to you, too, Numbuh 362," he greeted. "I trust things went okay at the doctors' office, this morning?

"Oh, yes. They did. Thank you for asking," she sweetly replied.

"My pleasure," he replied. "Got to say though, I'm a little surprised the doctors' didn't make stay overnight, just in case something happened."

"Yeah," she responded rather nervously. "I was a little surprised, myself, actually. But they said that it wasn't too severe, so they let me go."

"I see," he replied.

"Yeah, funny how that works, isn't it?" she asked. "Well now, I'm on a tight schedule, today. So we should probably get to that inspection."

"Very well, Sir," Patton assured her.

The trio then to make their way out through the hangar, and into the underground base made (entirely) of ice. But as they did, the young Drill Sergeant couldn't help but stare suspiciously at his dear friend from behind. That is, until Jeffery spoke up, anyway.

"Well, I think you're really starting to get paranoid, Patton," the boy remarked. "She's still acting pretty normal to me."

"Yeah, well I beg to differ," the Drill Sergeant replied.

"Ah, come on," the blue eyed boy replied. "Twenty bucks says you're totally overreacting."

"Really? Twenty bucks, or twenty push-ups?" Patton asked as his face became a devious grin.

"Twenty bucks," the boy replied.

"Boys, do you plan on showing me around today, or next month?" asked a stern looking Rachel.

"Coming, Sir!" the duo yelled simultaneously as they walked over towards their Superior Officer.  
……………………………………………………

It had only been half an hour or so since their beloved Supreme Leader had arrived, but inspections had gone smoothly and were complete. 

Rachel was still in the lead, with both Patton, and Jeffery trailing behind her as they made their way back towards her parked ROADSTAR.

On the surface, she wore a cheerful expression on her face, indicating that she was satisfied with todays' inspection. But Jeffery wasn't so sure, anymore.

"Oh man, Patton was right; she has been blinking a lot," the boy thought to himself. "Now I really do owe him twenty bucks."

"Well, everything seems to be in working order, as usual. Thank you for showing me around, boys," Rachel said politely.

"You're welcome, Sir," Patton replied. "I guess we can expect a report from you, soon?"

"Expect it on your desk by next Monday," she replied. "Well, I must be off. But before I do, I just need to freshen up."

"Feel free to do so, Numbuh 362," the Drill sergeant replied.

"Thank you," she replied with a small smile that made him blush.

Once the moment had passed, the young blonde made her way down the left corridor. Unbeknownst to her, however, the raven haired boy continued to eye her suspiciously.

"Numbuh 600, why don't you go check up on the cadets?" the Drill Sergeant asked. "I need to be somewhere."

"Yes, Sir," Jeffery said while giving a salute.

The two boys then walked off in separate directions.

"Oh, and Numbuh 600," said Patton in a devious tone, one that made his friend slump unhappily.

"Yes, Sir," the blue eyed boy responded.

"I expect to see that twenty dollars on my desk first thing, tomorrow," he replied with a devilish grin.

"Yes, Sir," replied Jeffery as he slumped off to go do his job.  
…………………………………………….

All was quiet, perhaps a bit too quiet for most people, but not for Rachel. All this sneaking around reminded her of her spy days, in a way. Sure, she may have been out of practice, but the endless hours of espionage training were forever engrained in her head. At least until her decommissioning, anyway. 

And what better time to put those skills to good use, than to find a decent (and secluded) hiding spot to stretch out her arm? Especially when she didn't want anyone catching her moving "broken" arm around?

It certainly paid off, too, because she managed to find a good one in no time at all; the emergency escape pod hangar. With the exception of security officers, the room was virtually quiet during the peak hours of Arctic Base. And unless they were suddenly ambushed by Father, or teen ninjas, or someone else, no one would be coming in here any time soon.

Quickly, the blonde girl removed the sash from her neck and threw it to the floor. She stretched her arm up in the air and mewed delightfully as she felt her arm muscles extend as far as they could go.

And, really, who could blame her? Even if she really had sprained or broken her arm, a good stretch would still be nice after having to leave her arm in an uncomfortable cast for so long.

"You look satisfied," said a voice that startled the young girl.

When Rachel turned around, she gasped the second she made eye contact with Patton. His arms were crossed, and he had that blunt, serious look on his face that bore its way into her eyes.

"Oh, Patton, you startled me," she replied.

"Well, you are easy to startle," he replied as he walked over to her.

Patton was silent for a moment, much to her surprise. But once he was only inches away from her, though, he spoke up again.

"So, your arm seems okay," the young boy observed. "I mean, you can move it just fine."

Rachel gulped nervously at this.

"Oh…Well, it's like I said; I only sprained it, so I can still move it a little bit," she explained.

Patton couldn't help but let out a sigh before he spoke up again.

"Look, Rache, why don't you just tell me what's going on?" he asked.

"What are you trying to say?" she asked. "Do you think I've been lying to you?"

"I know you've been lying," he admitted. "You were blinking so much for the last half hour, it nearly drove me crazy! Heck, I'm surprised no one else noticed!"

"That's ridiculous! Just because I blink a lot when I speak does not mean I'm lying!" Rachel retorted, trying (desperately) to defend herself.

Too bad it didn't make her case any more plausible. The second she was done speaking, she blinked twice for what had to be the gazillionth time, today.

"Yes it is! You just did it again!" he pointed out.

Now that he was on to her, she (sternly) crossed her arms.

"Oh, real nice," she replied. "And let me guess, I suppose you think I was lying to you this morning, too?"

"Actually…yeah. I did," he replied rather bluntly.

"What?" she asked.

"Come one, Rachel! I've known you since we were in cadets. You really think I wouldn't notice when you start tripping over your own lies?" he asked.

And just like that, Rachel's angry disposition fell. She tried to be strong, to remain vigilant. To look him in the eye and tell him he was wrong. But despite her best efforts, this was the moment where she threw down the masquerade and began to stare at the ground with guilty eyes.

How could she possibly continue lying to him now? Especially when he'd already seen right through her little charade?

"Alright, you caught me," Rachel admitted. "But I didn't have any other choice. Do you think I liked lying to you?"

As the girl spoke, she continued to avoid what had to be his angry gaze.

"Well why did you?" he asked.

That question surprised the young blonde. What really gave her a run for her money though, was the look in his black eyes as she stood to face him.

His gaze wasn't one of deep, seeded anger. Rather, it was one of sad, almost melancholy concern. It was enough to melt her heart if she let her guard down, she knew that all too well. And that's why she looked away, once again.

"I can't say…," she replied.

Patton went to hug his fragile looking Superior.

"Rachel-"

"No!" she screamed as she pulled away from his embrace. "I can't involve you!"

"Then at least tell me what's going on," he replied.

"I can't," she replied, knowing very well that she was incapable of resisting him for much longer. "Besides, there's nothing you can do to help me."

"Even if there's nothing I can do, I'm your friend. Don't you think I have a right to know what's bothering you?" he asked.

And right then and there, was when he broke her. For seconds later, she was holding her "broken" arm out to him. 

Needless to say, Patton looked quite shocked by this sudden gesture.

"What?" he asked. "But why-"

"Because you're right; you do deserve to know what's happening to me," she explained.

The boy couldn't lie to himself, he was surprised by what was happening, right now. Still didn't stop him, however, from taking her arm into his gloved hands and unwrapping the bulky bandages.

"Just try not to freak out too much. Okay?" she asked.

"Okay," he promised. "But I don't see what-"

Patton froze. The moment he finished unwrapping the bandages, he saw something he prayed to Zero he'd never have to see again. And yet, there it was. A Citizombie hand, clear as day. And attached to his beloved friend, no less.

"Patton?" Rachel asked.

He didn't say another word. If anything, the boys' face had been petrified with terror. Heck, he looked like he could sucrome to a full blown panic attack at any given moment. 

"Patton, say something," she begged as her transformed hand went to caress his cheek.

He shooed it away.

"Patton, it's okay," she said.

But by now, the boy couldn't hear her. All he could see, all he could hear were memories. Memories he'd tried so hard to bury in the deepest recesses of his mind.

He could hear Grandfather cackling evilly as he brainwashed him into a slave, commanding him to personally turn Rachel into a Citizombie.

He could see Rachel as she made her way to fight him, the battle that ended in her defeat. He remembered her struggle against the other Citizombies that had ambushed her, demanding to be let go. He could hear his own, evil cackle as his hand grabbed her face and turned her into that…that…oh, it was too terrible to even think about.

"Patton, snap out of it!"

Sure enough, Patton woke up from his trance and looked up to face Rachel, his Rachel, staring at him with concern. Her deformed hand cradled his cheek, but he didn't care. She was right in front of him, and that's all that mattered right now as he gave her a smile.

"Well…at least we know this thing doesn't work," he said.

She chuckled.

"Yeah," she replied while removing her hand from his face.

The two were silent for a moment, before Patton finally chose to speak up again.

"So, I guess he's back, huh?" he asked.

"Not exactly," she replied as he raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "He came to me in my dreams; something about his soul self traveling through the shadows and entering into my dream realm."

"Your dreams?" he asked as she nodded in reply. "But why?"

"He wants to use me as his Herald for world domination," she explained to him.

Hearing all of this, Patton immediately understood the severity of her situation. There was still one thing that confused him, though.

"His Herald?" he said as he thought over the word he'd never heard before.

"His messenger, of sorts," she explained.

"Oh," he casually remarked. "So, I take it you refused his offer?"

"Of course, I did," she snapped back. "It's not like that would stop him, though. We got into a fight, and once he defeated me, he engraved his symbol into my hand." 

"When I woke up, it was in this condition," she continued. "I'm not sure why, but I think this might be his way of threatening me into joining him."

Patton took a moment to think her theory over.

"You really think he'd do something like that?" he asked.

Rachel was silent for a moment before she spoke again.

"I hope so," she replied before she took a glance at her dear friend again. "Does that clear things up for you?"

"Well, it does explain the phone call," he remarked.

No mention about the blatant lies she told him. Not that she was surprised, really.

"I'm so sorry, Patton-"

Rachel stopped when she felt his gloved hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it," he replied. "This is about you, not me."

A genuine smile formed on his face, one that made her blush a light shade of pink as she flashed him one, as well. Patton was so good to her, even when she didn't deserve it. Didn't stop her from loving him for it, though.

"Thank you," she softly replied.

"Don't mention it," he replied as his smile formed into a small smirk. "So, any idea on how we're going to defeat him?"

"I haven't gotten that far yet, to be honest," she answered. "I'll need to do more research before I go into my dreamworld and face him."

Patton's eyes widened when he heard her reply; it was the one thing he hoped, even prayed she wouldn't say. And yet, here stood Rachel, making her intention to fight the old man, alone, clear as day.

"What!? Why!?" he asked.

"I think you know why," she replied.

"But you can't just face him alone," he replied.

"Well, why not?" the young Supreme Leader asked. "If I don't stop him before he takes a hold of me, then he could succeed at beating all of us into submission for a second time."

"But Grandfather is more powerful than all our enemies combined!" he reminded her. "You can't possibly expect to take him down by yourself!".

"I understand what you're saying, Patton. But I'm afraid that I have to do this alone," she declared.

Unfortunately, her declaration didn't ease the anxiety he was feeling. If anything, it only made it worse as his face became plastered with a look of deep concern.

"But-"

"Listen!," she said as she cut him off. "He wants me as his Herald, yes?"

"Yes…," he replied.

"Well, he's made it perfectly clear (to me) that he'll make that happen by any means necessary," she explained. "So I can't risk him hurting, or cursing any of my operatives."

She hoped that her words would ease his anxiety. But as the boy gazed into her beautiful, chocolate eyes, all he could do was stare at her with concern. Without a word, he took her hands into his gloved ones, making her blush as he opened his mouth to speak.

"I understand that, but I can't let you do this alone," the young Drill Sergeant declared, much to her surprise.

"But why is this so hard for you to accept?" she asked.

"Because I don't want that other Rachel to exist," he replied. "I mean, she's not you. She looks like you, but she's not sweet and cheerful like you, she doesn't have that passion or that fire that makes you Rachel. I can't risk seeing you turn into that monster, again."

Rachel couldn't lie to herself; she was very touched by his words. Even so, it didn't stop her from letting out a deep sigh as she took her hands out of his.

"I know, Patton," she replied. "I don't want her to exist again, either."

While the young boy was confused at first, it was only when he saw her on the verge of tears that he understood what she was implying.

"Wait…are you trying to tell me that you-"

"I fear that man," she admitted. "Not because he's despicable, but because he can turn me into something I'm not."

"Everything I am; my passions, my fears, my hopes and dreams for kid kind, he can take all of that away with a flick of his wrist if he wanted," she continued to explain. "And I would have no choice but to bow down to his power."

All Patton could do as she spoke was stare at the fear in her eyes. She feared becoming a monster, terrified of having all of her individuality striped away from her, and scared stiff of aiding a man she had no intention of collaborating with.

While she never outright said it, he knew the young girl well enough to know that being turned into an evil hag had terrified her to the very core. And that would've never happened if it weren't for him.

Unable to watch her burst into tears, the young Drill Sergeant gently took her infected hand into his, and pulled her into a tight hug.   
This surprised the young blonde, but she didn't have any time to react or speak before Patton started talking.

"I'm so sorry, Rachel…I'm sorry I hurt you," he said as he continued to hold her tight, like she could fade into dust at any second. "But Grandfather won't lay a hand on you, this time. Not on my watch."

While Rachel was still shocked by her friends' sudden actions, his words, his warmth, the gentle tone in his voice as she tried comforting her, she couldn't help but feel herself melt into his hug as she wrapped her free arm around the boys' back.

They continued to hug each other for a short while longer, until the young blonde broke free from her friends' embrace to face him, once more.

"Thank you, Patton. I appreciate the gesture," she replied. "But I need you to make a promise to me."

"A promise?" he asked.

"Yes…I need you to promise me that you won't follow me into my dreams to face him," she explained.

"What!?" he nearly screeched. "But-"

"Listen," said Rachel while she placed a finger to his lips. "I appreciate that you want to help me, but this is something that I have to do on my own."

She was silent for a moment as a playful smirk formed on her face.

"Besides, you know I can defend myself," she deviously replied as Patton sighed.

There was no way she could defeat that old man all on her own, but just one look at that passionate fire dancing in her eyes, and he knew he couldn't object to her command. 

Besides, that relentless conviction she had, it was only one of the many reasons she was so irresistible to him. And one (among many) reason(s) he had a hard time saying no to her.

"Okay, I promise," he replied with a smile.

"Thank you," she answered with a smile of her own.

The two were now silent as they became lost in each others eyes. They might have leaned in for a kiss, too, had their moment alone not been so rudely interrupted. 

Things started going wrong when Patton saw his love beginning to twitch uncomfortably. What's more, that slimy green aura that was the Citizombies' power started working its way down her wrist.

In her pain, Rachel collapsed to the floor, trying her best not to scream at the top of her lungs. Not that it did much to make Patton feel any more peaceful than he did at this very moment.

"Rachel!" he yelled.

He knelt down to her level.

"Stay back!" she ordered before she let out a tiny yelp of pain.

Now, Patton was terrified. He couldn't stop whatever was happening to her, he couldn't help her, all he could do was watch as the normally fearless girl continued to suffer before his fearful looking eyes.

Thankfully, it didn't last much longer. Her painful screams suddenly stopped and she collapsed to the cold, icy ground.

"Rachel!" he cried.

Fearing the worst, the boy gently cradled her in his arms and began to shake her body in a (desperate) attempt to get any reaction out of her.

"Rachel?" Patton asked. 

He got no answer. 

"Come on, Rachel! Wake up!"

The boy breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the young girl open her chocolate eyes again. Upon taking her surroundings, she turned to face him.

"Patton…," she whispered.

A grateful smile appeared on his face.

"Hey. Are you alright?" he asked.

"I think so," she replied.

"Oh, thank Zero," the boy replied as he embraced her into a tight hug, one which she accepted, whole heartedly.

But as he let go of her, the boy couldn't help but frightfully drop his jaw when he saw Rachel's right forearm. She saw this, but was confused.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Look at your arm," he advised.

Taking his advice, the young girl looked down at her cursed hand, only to be petrified by what she saw. The infection had spread further down her arm, consuming up to about her elbow.

The two terrified children turned to stare at each other, unsure of what to say regarding what just happened.

"What does this mean?" Patton asked.

Rachel looked back to stare at her now cursed forearm with anger and determination.

"I don't know," she replied. "But I'm going to find out, tonight."

End Chap. 4


	5. Seeking Guidance

Chapter 5: Seeking Guidance

Only ten minutes had passed since Rachel drifted off into slumberland, but it certainly didn't feel like that. If anything, it felt like she'd been running around in a dark void for hours.

Grandfather shouldn't have been too hard to find, even in this endless blackness. So what was the problem? Well, it was actually a lot simpler than you realize. 

The second she'd arrived in her dream world, Rachel found herself running through a never ending maze of mirrors, most likely set up by Grandfather.

Was this just his way of toying with her? Was he just trying to show off the power he held over her? Who knows. All the young blonde knew for sure was that she was growing more and more impatient with each passing second.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Miss McKenzie," said a familiar voice which startled the young blonde into a complete stand still. "So glad to see you, again."

Already aware of whom the voice belonged to, she quickly turned to watch as two door like mirrors that were behind her opened to reveal the man she'd been looking for; the satanic demon himself, Grandfather.

He sat perched atop a throne like chair, his black fingers were laced together, and that evil, yet arrogant smile he had was present on his old face.

Not that Rachel cared as she shot him a loathsome glare.

"You," she muttered.

In an unexpected twist, her response made him frown.

"Oh, come now. Must I always be greeted in such a manner?" the elderly man asked as he stood up from his chair, and made his way towards the young girl. "I understand that I'm not a nice guy, but even I deserve a proper hello once in awhile, don't you think?"

"Well maybe if you didn't enact the Dr. Jackle/Mr. Hyde affect so much, I might know how to behave myself around you," Rachel sarcastically replied while crossing her arms.

When she said her piece, that evil smile of Grandfathers' quickly creeped back onto his old face as he began to laugh sinisterly, amused by her response.

"Oh, please. Do you honestly think I expect any of your brats to treat an old man decenctly?" he asked as the young blonde continued to stare at him. 

"Children haven't changed much from when I ruled the world, so what would make you act any different now? Because you act like an   
"Adult"?"

"Enough! I didn't come here to listen to you insult me!" the young girl replied.

"Oh really? And why did you come, My Dear?" the old man asked as he folded his arms together.

"Oh, no reason," she answered. "Just so you could explain THIS to me!"

She then rolled up the sleeve of her tiger striped sweater, revealing her cursed forearm.

Interested in what she had to show him, the golden eyed man strummed his finger through his long, black beard as he keenly observed the little girls' zombified arm. He chuckled amusingly as he did so.

"Well, it looks like my curse is starting to take affect," he replied evilly as he stood himself up. 

All while the young girl's eyes widened in confusion.

"What?" she asked. "But wasn't this just your way of threatening me into joining you?"

"That, My Dear, sounds like something my idiot son would devise," he replied. "You should know, by now, that I'm much more diabolical than to simply threaten you into doing what I want."

The implication of his words only terrified the young blonde as he continued to speak.

"What I've done, is bestow upon you a Citizombie Curse that is designed to resonate with a crucial emotion to its victim," he explained. 

"The more you exhibit or feel said emotion, the more the curse will continue to affect your physical and mental being, until you become a full fledged Senior Citizombie."

A crucial emotion? That confused Rachel even as she took a moment to ponder his explanation. What was that suppose to mean? It didn't take her long though to reach a conclusion.

"It's fear, isn't it?" she asked.

Looks like she was right, too, as the satanic demon brought himself down to stare at her with amused arrogance once more.

"Well, you really do have a brain underneath that head of hair," he observed while he watched her glare at him. "But pray tell, what makes you think it's fear?"

And just like that, the stern look on her face faded into a fearful, almost sorrowful expression as she opened her mouth to speak.

"Because I'm afraid of becoming that other me, again," she explained. "I don't want to see myself, or anyone else brainwashed into your mindless servants, again."

When she finished her piece, the old man chuckled evilly. No doubt, pleased with her sorrow as that sinister smile remained on his face.

"Yes, I know," he answered.

This made the young girl stare at him in surprise, but also confusion.

"What!?" she asked.

"Well, I must admit; I was getting bored, waiting for you to arrive and what not. So for fun, I decided to do a little bit of spying on you," he explained. "As you can imagine, I had the pleasure of witnessing that delightful little moment of your suffering."

"Of course, I also had to watch that sappy scene between you and that fool you call a Drill Sergeant," he continued.

Hearing that, Rachel could not help but blush at the mention of her conversation with Patton from earlier in the day. It was a little embarrassing, to say the least, knowing that a villain of Grandfathers' calibre had bore witness to their private moment together.

It was probably a good thing she hadn't gotten to kiss Patton like she wanted to, she thought to herself. Who knows what Grandfather could do with such juicy evidence?

But then she heard the old man laughing to himself, once again. What was so funny, this time?

"Oh, that Numbuh 60. What a naive little loser," he observed. " "I'm sorry I hurt you, Rachel! Grandfather won't lay a finger on you, this time. Not while I'm around." Ha!" 

"He's so stupid, it's almost worth paying for," he said as he continued to laugh in (evil) amusement.

Hearing those remarks caused the young girl to fume in anger as she clenched her fists together.

"Patton is not stupid!" she yelled at the old man who stopped laughing to turn and face the angry looking girl.

"Patton may be impulsive, and he can be incredibly irresponsible at times. But he works hard, and will gladly lead his troops into battle if it means protecting the things and people he loves!" she angrily retorted.

Admittedly, Grandfather was taken aback by her sudden outburst. But that didn't last for long, though. Pretty soon, that evil sneer surfaced on his face once again as he brought himself back down to the young girls' level.

"What's this now? Do I detect a hint of anger towards my words?" he asked.

He got his answer when Rachel's cheeks flushed pink, and she turned her gaze away from his. The old man couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction while he cupped her chin in his old hand.

"It's so easy to discern when you children care deeply for someone," he observed with amusement.

Angrily, Rachel swatted his hand away from her chin.

"It doesn't matter!" the young Supreme Leader declared. "I swear on my title that I will protect my operatives, and the rest of humanity from your tyranny!"

But even with that bright, passionate fire burning in her eyes, the satanic demon could only laugh at her little declaration, causing her to stare at him in confusion.

"You really think it's that easy? Especially with the kind of curse I've bestowed upon you?" he asked while she continued staring at him.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"The more your fear heightens, the faster the curse will consume both your body, and your mind," he explained. "And when the curse is complete, you will become a Citizombie…permanently…."

And as he said those words, all Rachel could do was stand there. She was as still as a statue, horror clearly detailed on her face as she continued absorbing his words.

"No…That…That's not possible…," was all she could get out for now. "Because if I defeat you, then-"

"It would make no difference whether you defeat me or not…once the curse fully takes over, you can never return to your true self," he sinisterly explained.

He watched as the little girl before him began to panic, smiling evilly as he did. 

A small moment of silence (then) came over the area at once, one which was only broken once Rachel opened her mouth to speak.

"So then…What will become of me?" she asked, fearing the answer.

"Well to put it simply; who you are at mind will remain in tact," he answered. "But who you are at heart…will cease to exist…"

Grandfather watched as she remained frozen in the same spot, her voice slowly turning out a tone of sheer horror.

"No…" she whispered.

"Oh, yes," he delightfully retorted. "And once you have been permanently infected with my evil, you will become my tool to destroying your childish organization, and that infernal bible for me. It will make my domination over this planet so much easier."

"But then that means that I…I would become your puppet," the girl replied.

She took a moment to think over the implications of that statement. If his plan was successful, it would be the end of her. 

No Kids Next Door, no friends or passions, not even any time for fun or carving out a future for herself. Nothing but loyalty to this despicable, selfish old man, with her as his evil, old crone of a messenger/henchwomen. It was too terrifying to put into words.

"Puppet is such an overused word. I prefer to think of it as my…desperately loyal servant…" the satanic demon remarked as his gold eyes lit up with satisfaction.

His words not only frightened the young girl standing before him, they had paralyzed her (momentarily) into a catatonic state, as if she were soaking in the old mans' declaration. Needless to say, he was quite pleased with the results before him. 

It didn't last for very long, though, once Rachel finally snapped out of her petrified state.

"Never!" she screamed.

Quickly, the young blonde began to flee from the evil bastards' clutches. Or, at least as fast as she could in her (still) panicky state. She probably would've escaped too, had she not run into an object that made her collapse to the ground.

Rachel groaned as she pulled herself up to at least sit on the floor, though she couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed as she did.  
Did she really just run into a mirror? Oh, she only wished that were true when she looked to see what stood in her way; it was none other than the Citizombie Patton. He smiled sinisterly at her as he was joined by zombified Fanny, Sector V, Harvey, Helga, and various other people whom Rachel either knew, or was close to.

They all stood in a circle around the horrified looking girl, laughing with maniacal glee before dog piling her. Rachel tried to break free from her captors, but it was no use as the Citizombies' held on tightly to her fragile body and slowly infected her with their own corruption.

She tried her best to resist like she had done once before, but it seemed no use as the horde continued to transform her, making the girl feel more terrified with each passing second.

"Let me go! Let me go!" she screamed. "I don't want to be your puppet! I refuse to be your puppet!"

She tried her best to sound brave as she continued to relentlessly free herself from the grasp of her captors. But the puppets continued to laugh evilly, their master watching this scene from a few feet above with a satisfied, evil smile on his face as well.

"Like I said before, you have no say in the matter!" the satanic demon replied as he cackled evilly before disappearing in a dance of flames.

Unfortunately, what replaced him came as more of a shock to Rachel, who looked up to stare at a reflection of her Citizombie self. She too, cackled evilly as the young girl stared in horror at this monstrous puppet.

"Bye Bye," she spoke in a delightfully evil tone as her claw like hands wrapped themselves around her younger counterpart and began strangling her.

As she felt the disgusting, green aura creeping up her neck, and as she gasped for air, Rachel felt herself become paralyzed her own fear. She wanted to break free, but how could she when her loved ones continued laughing evilly at her pain? Or even fight her old counterpart as she continued to tightly choke her? She couldn't even beg for air as felt the curse continually consume her into its very being. It was like Grandfather had already won.

Rachel couldn't take this anymore, but she was unable to do anything except scream.

A few seconds later, the young girl awoke from her nightmare. She was in her room, and yet, she couldn't help but feel unsafe. In her panicky state, she looked around the room, her breathing still heavy, and anxiety ridden. 

Upon realizing that she was secure, the young blonde then managed to calm down, only to feel her heartbeat racing a thousand miles per second when she saw her now long, desaturated arm. Not sure of what to do anymore, the young girl buried her face into her hands as she began to quietly cry to herself.  
…………………………………………………..

It was the early morning hours on Moon Base Zero; barely anyone was here at this time of day, making the normally thriving metropolis look like an empty ghost town.

Not that Rachel cared. She didn't feel like sleeping. And really, who would after being so rudely awakened from her slumber? 

No longer comfortable in her own house, the young blonde found herself roaming the hallways of her home away from home, not sure of what else to do to keep herself from having a nervous break down.

Though really, who could blame her? If the lifeless expression on her face was any indication, she looked like she had already become a mindless zombie as she continually sauntered through the endless stream of silent, peaceful corridors.

Her thoughts weren't peaceful, though. 

Grandfathers' nightmarish words were on repeat in her mind. And regardless of how hard she tried, she just couldn't focus on anything else but her own, inevitable fate.

"I'm not your puppet…" she said, as if she were attempting to convince herself of that. "I'm not your puppet…I'm not…your…"

But it was no use; she saw her Citizombie self reflected in the glass before her, and even that was more than she could take. The girl then banged her head against the plastic frame and allowed the hot tears to flow from her eyes.

"What do I do?" she quietly asked out loud.

It was a simple question, but one for which she had no answer to. 

In her heart, the girl wanted to believe that there was a way out of this, that there was a way of defeating him, just like Nigel and Numbuh 0 had done before. 

But it almost seemed so pointless to her, now. This time, there didn't appear to be a glimmer of hope. Not for herself, or anyone else, for that matter.

Rachel quickly wiped her tears away with her sleeves, not caring if they'd have stain marks later, or not. When she opened her eyes, however, she came to find herself staring at a certain marvel placed on Moon Base Zero only six months prior. 

What was this marvel, exactly? Why it was a solid, gold statue of the Kids Next Doors' legendary operative, and son of the demonic bastard, himself; Numbuh Zero.

It was certainly a grand statue, to be sure. The perfect memorial to the great hero who had saved the organization where she had failed. But to a select few, it was also seen as a spiritual guide. Yes, some Kids Next Door operatives actually ventured into this section to pray to the statue, believing that maybe, Numbuh Zero himself may guide them.

Rachel couldn't lie; the idea of spirituality had always seemed a bit silly to her. And yet somehow, she found her feet carrying her into the pink tinted chamber. 

When she approached the large scale monument, she got down on her knees and bowed her head. She even blushed, a little.

"Hello, Numbuh Zero," the young girl said hesitantly. "This is a little weird for me…But I don't know where else to turn…"

"I've been cursed by your father; he plans to enslave me and make me his Herald for world domination, just so that he can destroy the Kids Next Door," she continued before looking up to finally stare up at the statue.

She sniffled, trying hard to hold back her tears.

"I wish I could be like you, but I'm not," she replied. "I can't defeat him in one fell swoop…I couldn't even protect my own operatives from his tyranny a few months ago…Please, tell me…What should I do?"

And with that, the young girl allowed the hot tears she'd been holding back to fall from her eyes. 

After awhile, Rachel stopped her wailing. She looked back up at the statue while she used her sweater sleeves to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"Oh, look at me; I'm actually asking a statue for advice," she said aloud, she even laughed a little. "Next thing you know, I'll be asking the Book of KND for advice."

Yeah, that would be preposterous. Wait a second. Maybe it wasn't. The Book was essentially a Bible for the organization and its way of life, but it was more than that. It was also a symbol of Hope, the very thing that aided Numbuh Zero in his quest to liberate kids everywhere, and the very thing Grandfather sought to terminate.

It was just the answer she'd been looking for. Her face brightened, her posture seemed a bit more confident as she stood herself up, she even smiled for what felt like the first time in forever as she began to exit the room.

"I can't believe I didn't think of that, sooner," she said to herself as she continued to make her way towards the exit.

Though not before turning around to face the magnificent statue one last time.

"Thanks for your help…Numbuh Zero…" Rachel playfully replied. 

Why, she even gave the statue a wink as she finally left the room. Only one thought ran through her mind, now.

"I just hope Matt's at the Museum."  
………………………………………………….

It was after hours on Arctic Base, and while being a Kids Next Door operative could be all fun and games, it could be just as gruelling as any job an adult might have to work, depending on what the day had in store.

Unless you were a Sector Leader finishing up the report for your Sector's latest mission, most operatives were happy to punch out and call it a day. But not Patton.

He would often stay late into the night once everyone else had gone home, but it wasn't because he had paperwork to sign, or deadlines to meet. No, he stayed to work on his punching bag.

It made sense. Patton was a Drill Sergeant, after all. He had a reputation to keep up. If he couldn't show his capability to lead, or train an army of Kids Next Door operatives into battle, then what would be the point of giving him such a title?

Plus, practicing sports like boxing certainly had their benefits. Someone goofed up on a serious mission that annoyed you? You can always take out your aggression on a punching bag, and feel better. At least, as far as he was concerned.

That being said, the boy wiped the sweat off his forehead with a look of satisfaction; just another half hour to go, and he could call it a night.

"Patton…"

Patton stood there for a moment, eyes widened.

That voice; it was Rachel's. But why was she here so late at night? Shouldn't she be finishing up some paperwork at Moon Base, or taking the shuttle home by now? 

Curiously, the young boy turned around to answer his own question. Only to be surprised by what he saw.

It was Rachel, alright. But something was very off about her; she lay slumped on the floor. Her limbs were flimsy, and her head hung near her chest.

It reminded Patton of an old marionette his grandmother used to have on display in her house. But that's just it; why did she look that way? He just had to know.

"Rachel?" he asked. "You okay?"

No answer. Now, he was growing really concerned. Wasting no time, the raven haired boy collapsed to his knees and grabbed her by the arms as he started shaking her.

"Hey?" he asked. 

Still no response. 

"Hey!? What's wrong with you!?"

"You're too late," Rachel said, finally.

But her tone only made him stare at her in confusion; it didn't sound sweet and feminine like it usually did. In fact, there was very little emotion in her delivery, at all, and it sounded a touch older than a normal twelve year old would sound.

"What do you-"

"The Rachel that you knew no longer exists!" she said in a cruel and menacing tone.

Before Patton could say anything, he watched as a thin, transparent string pulled at the head of his friend, commanding her head up and forcing him to see her face. 

Her eyes were now that of a Citizombies', and her face brimmed with evil delight as she let out that evil cackle he prayed he'd never have to hear again.

Suddenly, Patton awoke to find himself in his small bedroom. It still didn't make the boy feel any better, though. He was still panting, his heart continued to race a mile a minute, and his eyes reflected the fear from he'd just witnessed.

The boy tried calming himself down by taking in a few, deep breaths, but it was no use. For whatever reason, he couldn't stop thinking about the dream he just had. 

Was it some kind of sign? Was it trying to tell him that Rachel was in deeper trouble than he realized? Or was his own paranoia and PTSD getting the better of him? He didn't know, but he knew he was going to find out one way, or another.

Patton quickly grabbed ahold of the cellphone sitting on his night stand and dialled Jeffery's number. It took a few tries, but he finally got through.

"Hey, Jeff," whispered Patton.

"Patton?" the boy asked. "Ugh…Dude, what's going on? It's like, 5:30 in the morning."

"I know," he replied apologetically. "But listen, I was wondering if you could cover for me on my first shift, today?"

"What? Why?" Jeffery replied.

"There's something I need to check out on Global Command, first. Okay?" he explained.

"Oh, okay," the boy replied. "See you later."

"Thanks, you too," Patton replied before he hung up.

With that, Patton took a deep breath, feeling a little bit calmer than he did a minute ago. Still, he couldn't wait to get up to Moon Base to check up on Rachel. He just hoped she'd be on Global Command so early in the morning.

End Chap. 5


	6. Into Satan's Dean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before anyone comments, no, you're not seeing thing, I really do have "Absolute Destiny Apocalypse" from Revolutionary Girl Utena playing during Rachel's suit up montage.

Chapter 6: Into Satan's Dean

The Kids Next Door Museum of Cool Artifacts; no matter how you looked at it, it was either one of two things to people. 

For some, it was a well documented shrine to all known Kids Next Door artifacts, both fictional, and historical. To others, it was nothing more than a trinket display of useless, out-dated junk.

There was really no happy medium on this debate, either.

Since its opening way back in the early 1990s, the building had been polarizing for both operatives and the higher ups, and it remained so to this day. 

Thankfully, this reputation didn't seem to bother the Museums' tireless curator, and resident Kids Next Door fan boy, Matt, or Numbuh 101.

And just what was he doing at this hour? Well now that he had completed his early dusting of the Museum's "priceless" artifacts, the red headed boy was free to do as he pleased. 

This included sitting at the desk in his office, and watching his favourite Reality Drama show with a bowl of popcorn cradled in his arm.

"We now return to our top rated show; _Decomissioners_!" said the TV announcer as Matt continued to eat his popcorn in anticipation.

"Ooh, I love this show!" he said with giddy fan boy glee, his eyes glued to the screen as he watched the Decommissioning Squad trying to catch a fugitive operative with great interest. "Oh, classic!"

The boys' ears perked up, however, when heard the sound of a vehicle landing in the Museums' parking lot.

" _That's weird. Who could be here at this hour_?" he thought to himself. " _The Museum doesn't open until Nine-Thirty, and I don't have any tours scheduled for today_."

But then a light went off in his head, and a big smile formed on his face. There was no question about it, he now had a hunch as to who it might be.

"Oh my Goodness! Maybe it's Sector V coming to retrieve the stuff I stole from their Tree House a few days ago!" he cheerfully chirped as he jumped out of his chair and onto his feet.

"Coming!" Matt stated. 

Like the stereotypical fanboy he was, he swiped his autograph book off his desk and ran for the main entrance.

Upon making his way there though, the redheaded geek came to find that not a legendary Sector, but (rather) a familiar blonde haired figure stood before him in the doorway.

"Oh, it's the Kids Next Doors' esteemed Supreme Leader, herself!" he said with fan boyish glee as he walked over towards his superior.

"Welcome to the Museum, Numbuh 362, it's an honour to have you here! Oh, I grovel at your feet, your loveliness!" said Matt as he fell to his knees and went to kiss her sandled feet.

"Don't grovel," Rachel replied as she inched her foot away from his lips. "And good morning to you too, Matt."

"Oh, the pleasure's all mine," he replied as he brought himself back up to his feet. "So, I heard about your arm. My condolences."

"Thank you," she replied. "It's a little better than it was, yesterday. But, it still hurts. Got to admit though, I never would've imagined myself with a broken arm from falling out of bed."

"Well, there's a first time for everything," the little redhead replied. "So, what can I do for you, today, your fairness?"

"I mean, obviously, you came here for a reason," he continued. "Ooh! Maybe you're here to see my latests additions to the Museum! Oh, you're going to love them-"

"The Book," she bluntly replied as the boy turned to stare at her. "I'd like to borrow the Book of KND."

"You want to borrow the Book?" he asked. "But didn't you order me to store it in a super safe hiding place where no one would ever think to look for it?" 

"Yes, but I need to use it for reference in an up-coming document I have to create," she explained. "So, with that in mind, may I please borrow the Book?"

"Eh, I don't know," Matt replied. "It took a lot of coxing to Numbuh 1 to even hand over that Book for this month's themed exhibit. You should probably ask him first."

"Oh, don't worry," she replied. "I already asked him, and he said he was okay with it."

"Really?" he asked.

"Of course," the young girl answered.

"Well, why didn't you say so!? Just follow me, Sir," he happily replied as they made their way towards his office.

"Excellent. Thank you Numbuh 101," Rachel said.

"Oh, anything for a great Kids Next Door operative like yourself," he gushed. "Now, I don't mean to pry, but, do mind me asking what kind of document you're writing about?"

"I'm afraid that's classified information," the young Supreme Leader answered.

"Oh, come on. Please!?" the redheaded geek pleaded.

"No," she bluntly replied.

"Please!?" he asked.

"No," she replied.

"Oh, come on! I'll be your best friend!" Matt pleaded.

"No," she replied.

"I'll tell you what happens in the next episode of Dr. Time Space," he pleaded once more.

"No," she replied as she and Matt walked into his office. "Besides, I'd rather find out (for myself) what happens, next."

"Okay, if you insist," he replied. "But I'm telling you, it's awesome! There's this one part where Dr. Time-"

"Perhaps I didn't make things clear, Matt; I'm on a tight schedule, and picking up that Book is my number one priority, right now," Rachel sternly explained. "So would you mind getting it for me, please?"

"Uh, right. Of course, Sir," Matt hesitantly replied as he slowly backed away from his Superior.

By now, it was pretty clear that the young girl was becoming irritated with his antics. And if there was one thing any Kids Next Door operative knew not to do, it was (to either) annoy, or cheese off their Supreme Leader. Especially if she was stressed, or in a hurry.

With that in mind, Matt quickly turned to face the magnificent, gigantic bookshelf behind his desk area.

"Behold; my ultimate hiding spot!" he said in an epic sounding tone.

The geek then pulled one of his books from out of the shelf, making Rachel stare in silent wonder as the giant furniture piece turned around to reveal organizations' sacred Bible; The Book of KND, looking as shiny, and illustrious as ever.

"Wow, clever," she replied.

"Yeah, I know," the boy gushed as he took the Book out of its hiding spot and handed it to his superior, making her smile. "Here we are, one Book of KND!"

"Perfect. Thank you for lending it out to me once again, Matt," Rachel replied.

"Ah, don't mention it," replied Matt. "Now if you'll excuse me, Sir, I've got to get ready for Sector Vs' arrival."

Unfortunately, hearing the words Sector V brought a frown to Rachel's face. It also made her turn and face the excited looking boy, once more, looking as if she were ready to give him a lecture.

"Matt, what did I tell you about stealing property from other Sectors!?" she asked in a disappointed tone.

"Oh, don't worry; I'll give their stuff back to them," the little redhead assured her. "Besides, this is just my way of getting their autographs. I mean, obviously, I have all of their autographs already, but not in Green!"

"Although, Numbuh 1 still owes me an autograph in red," he replied. "I mean, come on! George Washington!? Don't they know that ruins the autograph book!?"

The boy continued ranting to himself as his superior let herself out of his office, unable to keep herself from rolling her eyes at how overly fanatical Matt was being, right now. 

Although, to be fair, she couldn't really blame him for being so upset. If something truly idiotic happened on Dr. Time Space, she'd probably be acting the exact same way, just not as whiny.

When she finally reached the landing pad, she took a glance at the sacred item in her hand. True, she may not be Numbuh Zero, but she refused to give into Grandfathers' words so easily as that fiery passion lit up in her eyes again.

" _You're going to regret the day you decided to mess with me, Grandfather. That I can promise you_ ," the young girl thought to herself as she hopped back into her ROADSTAR.

_Zettai Unmei Mokushiroku (Absolute Destiny Apocalypse)_

_Zettai Unmei Mokushiroku (Absolute Destiny Apocalypse)_

_Shussei Touroku, Senrei Meibo, Shibou Touroku (Birth Records, Baptismal Registry, Death Records)_

Rachel was quiet as she patiently stood inside the Global Command ILLUSOCABIN, her eyes were closed, and her infected arm was out of his fake cast and wrapped tightly around her YIELD staff.

And just to spice things up; there was a small army of red eyed robots were closing in on her.

Before any of them could make a move, though, the young blonde opened her eyes and sent a powerful kick to one of these machines. The little robot collapsed to the ground as Rachel went to punch another robot in the face without a break. Heck, she even flipped one robot (by its arm) single handedly over her tiny figure.

Moving into a karate stance, the young girl began twirling her staff with incredible speed. With a battle cry, she ran through the robot army, using both ends of her staff to take out the multiple machines. By the time she was finished, every single robot had been reduced to rubble.

_Zettai Unmei Mokushiroku (Absolute Destiny Apocalypse)_

_Zettai Unmei Mokushiroku (Absolute Destiny Apocalypse)_

_Watashi no Tanjou, Zettai Tanjou, Mokushiroku (My Birth, Absolute Birth, Apocalypse)_

The sound of clattery sandal bottoms echoed throughout the silent corridor as Rachel walked towards the 2x4 Weaponry Storage Room, a room used only in emergency situations. Not many operatives came down there, as a result. And while she knew that, the young girl quickly looked back to see if anyone was there.

Seeing that the coast was clear, the young Supreme Leader held up her cursed hand to type in her entry code. The door then slid open for the blonde girl, whose eyes were now lit with a determined fire.

_Yami no Sabaku ni Sanba, Uba (A wet-nurse and a midwife in a dark desert)_

_Kin no mekki no tougenkyou (A gold-gilded Shangri-La)_

_Hiru to Yoru to ga Gyakumawari (Day and night turning in on each other)_

_Toki no Mekki no shootsurakuen (A time-gilded lost paradise)_

Now that she was inside the storage room, Rachel took her time examining the weaponry in front of her. 

First, she observed a GUMZOOKA with expert care before gently tossing it over where she'd placed her backpack. 

By the time she was finished, the girl had managed to store a SCAMPP, a SPLANKER, and a few MARBLEs into her orange and aquamarine backpack. She then slung the orange straps over her upper back as she closed the door.

_SODOMU no yami (Darkness over Sodom)_

_Hikari no Yami (Darkness in the Light)_

_Kanata no Yami (Darkness over Yonder)_

_Hatenaki yami (Darkness never Ending)_

Back in her office, the young girl was reading the Book of KND, studying it. She gently put the item down nearly half an hour later as she began to feel hope surging through her body.

Rachel then proceeded to write a small note in permanent black ink, folding the piece of paper in half once she had completed her two sense.

_Zettai Unmei Mokushiroku (Absolute Destiny Apocalypse)_

_Zettai Unmei Mokushiyami, Mokushiroku (Absolute Destiny; Apocalyptic Darkness, Apocalypse)_

_Mokushi Kushimo, Shimoku Kumoshi, Moshiku Shikumo_

The young girl then saddled her orange, and aquamarine backpack onto her back, all the while tightly cradling both the Book, and the note in her slender arms.

Knowing she'd never get to sleep with a huge backpack of stuff slung on her, Rachel had to loo for another option. Thankfully, it didn't take her long to find an alternate sleeping position that would be comfy. 

She simply placed her fluffy pillow on the back of her head, and sat herself up on the firm headboard of her comfy office bed. Rachel sighed in relief; she was now free to let herself sink into her soft, foam mattress, and her helmet covered head sink into the pillow.

The next thing she did was close her eyes, allowing herself to finally drift off into another plane of existence; the Dream Plane.  
Though despite feeling more hopeful now than she had the day before, the young girl still couldn't help but wonder if she would be successful.

_Mokushi Kushimo Shimoku Kumoshi Moshiku Shikumo_

Rachel's dreamland was now desolate, and dreary looking, save for a small light that took on her shape. Her eyes were closed as she gently floated down towards the (now) scorched earth.

_Mokushi Kushimo Shimoku Kumoshi Moshiku Shikumo_

As the girl continued descending to the ground, her appearance began to change. Her sabred samurai helmet gained extensions that covered almost all of her golden, blonde hair. 

Her tiger striped sweater vanished, revealing her sliver chest plated armour underneath, and crimson and purple gloves adorned both of her hands.

And right beside her right hand formed her Yield Staff, which she twirled around a few times before grasping onto it with a firm grip.

_Mokushi Kushimo Shimoku Kumoshi Moshiku Shikumo_

Now decked out in her normal plate of armour, the young girl looked more like a powerful warrior than a stern, yet fair Queen as her feet finally touched the ground.

_Mokushi Kushimo Shimoku Kumoshi Moshiku Shikumo_

_Mokushi Kushimo Shimoku Kumoshi Moshiku Shikumo_

The young Supreme Leader then opened her eyes, that same, passionate fire burning amidst their usual chocolate colour. There was no question about it; she was ready to take on the black bearded man who haunted her very dreams.

End Chap. 6


	7. The Watchers

Chapter 7: The Watchers

It was now 9 A.M. in the morning, and Patton was now practically running through the (much busier) hallways of Moon Base Zero. Or at least as fast as his legs could carry him. 

The boy hadn't been able to sleep since his nightmare from earlier this morning, and while he couldn't be certain that it actually meant anything, he wasn't going to wait around to see if Rachel was okay.

Seeing the Bridge doors in plain sight, the young boy opened them with ease and stood perfectly still atop the steps leading down into the vast room.

"Numbuh 60 reportin' for duty, Sir!" he yelled.

Much to his surprise, however, no one else was currently on the bridge. Well, no one except for Herbie, that is.

"Oh, Good Morning, Numbuh 60," the nerdy boy greeted. "What are you doing up here so early, today?"

Not wasting any time, the young Drill Sergeant opened his mouth to speak.

"I need to speak to Numbuh 362, immediately," he explained in his usual, authoritative tone. "Do you know where she might be?"

"Well, I haven't seen her since yesterday," he answered. "Maybe try her office."

"Perfect," said Patton. "Thanks, soldier."

With that, the raven haired boy ran out of the room and began making his way towards his lovely superiors' office.

Thankfully, that didn't take too long. As per Rachel's request, her office space had been structurally built closer to the Bridge in the rebuild of Global Command. Within two minutes, Patton found himself standing outside of her office door with a small 362 tag on it.

Just like he'd done back on the bridge, the boy wasted no time as he started knocking on the blue door.

"Sir?" he asked. "Sir? Rachel, are you in there?"

Now he was suspicious as he went to open the door. Well, he would have if the door wasn't already open. 

Quickly, the boy walked into the huge office. The first thing he noticed? His lovely friend on her office bed, sleeping. But if her expression was anything to gage by, she wasn't having any peaceful dreams.

Now he was really starting to get worried; he rushed over to Rachel's side and wrapped his gloved hands around her arms.  
"Rachel?" he asked. "Rachel!? Can you hear me!?"

It was no use, she was already in a deep slumber. 

Then he noticed something; her arms were tightly wrapped around two things. One was the Book of KND, the other was a tiny, folded up piece of paper.

Curious, the young boy grabbed the paper out of her arms and unfolded it, wondering what kind of message was written on it.

_To whoever finds this, please don't wake me up, no matter what happens._

_Rachel_

The young Drill Sergeant couldn't believe it. How had he not seen this coming? And yet in his anger, all he was able to do was let out an aggravated sigh.

"Oh, Rachel. Why would you do something so stupid?" he asked himself out loud.

He knew he had very little time on his hands. But what could he do to help her now? She was in the realm of dreams, (most likely) duking it out with Grandfather at this very moment, and he was stuck in the real world.

What was a lowly Drill Sergeant to do? Well, maybe seek some help. And what better help could he ask for as soon as he heard six, familiar voices coming towards the (still) opened office door.  
………………………………………………………..

Despite how early it was, the members of Sector V seemed to be their generally perky, and/or calm and collected selves. But how could they not be as they made their way towards their friend and superiors' office.

"Oh man, Numbuh 362's going to love my latest invention," Hoagie gushed. "Goodbye cellphones, Hello BlueTooth knock-offs!"

"Don't forget, Numbuh 2, we're (also) here to confront Rachel about what she's hiding from us," Nigel reminded his friend.

"Yeah, but how are we gonna' do that?" asked Wally.

"Actually, we have that figured out. Right, Numbuh 5?" asked Nigel as he gave his black friend a smirk that she returned, wholeheartedly.

"Sure do, Boss," Abigail replied. "Numbuh 3?"

As if one cue, Kuki pulled up a tray of colourful, delicious looking cookies on a silver platter, like she was the hostess of a cooking show, or something.

"Numbuh 5s' Specialty Home-made Rainbow Cookies! Available in six variety colours!" she happily chirped.

"You're gonna' bribe her with cookies!?" the short Aussie asked.

"Well, why not?" asked Abigail. "Remember what happened when Numbuh 5 brought a couple of trays of these ta' last years' Christmas party? Girl couldn't resist them."

"Neither can I," Hoagie hungrily replied as he reached for a cookie.

"I'm with you on that one, big boy," Alex gleefully replied as she, too, dove for one as well.

That is, until Abigail swatted their greedy hands with her signature red hat.

"Hey! What did I tell you two about eatin' those cookies?" she asked.

"We're not suppose to eat them until Numbuh 362's had one," the two friends answered in unison.

"That's what I thought," the braided beauty replied as she placed her hat back on her head, pleased with herself as a small smile surfaced on her face.

"Sector V!" said a voice that startled the six friends.

They all looked up to see Patton emerging from their Supreme Leaders' office, his usual, angry grimace on his face as the team stood in awe at this sudden development.

"Numbuh 60! What are you doing here?" asked Nigel.

"I need your help! Rachel might in trouble, and I don't know what I can do to help her!" he explained.

"What you mean?" the bald boy asked.

"Come in here, and I'll show you," the Drill Sergeant replied.

Admittedly, the Sector leader was annoyed that he wasn't being given an answer. It still didn't stop him from entering his friends' office, though, with his team right behind him.

Numbuh 60, you had better tell us what's going on before-"

Nigel stopped himself upon seeing Rachel's Citizombie arm. They all did. And naturally, Sector V followed up their surprise by proceeding to scream in simultaneous terror. Well, every except for Alex, that is.

"Hey, I can't see!" the mutant girl said as she pushed her way into the room. "Now, what's going on-HOKEY SMOooooOw! My throat!"

"Wha…Wha…What happened to her arm?" Hoagie asked.

"Take a good guess," Patton bluntly remarked.

And just as he predicted, the six friends actually did take a moment to think this situation over. It also didn't take them long to determine the meaning of his words.

"Grandfather?" the original five members asked.

"The Demon Bastard?" asked Alex.

Patton just gave them a reassuring nod, making their eyes widen in shock. Then, the room went quiet for a few seconds until

Hoagie chose to speak up.

"So, he's back?" he asked. "But, how is that even possible?"

"Yeah," Nigel agreed. "My dad destroyed the Recomissioning Device when Grandfather was defeated."

"Well, that's the thing," Patton spoke up. "He came to her in her dreams."

"But how do you know that?" Abigail asked.

"Rachel told me all about it," the boy answered. "He came to her, and said something about wanting Rachel to be his messenger, or something. I can't remember the word she used to describe it."

"Anyway, she refused and they fought," he continued. "Grandfather carved a symbol into her hand when she lost, and when she woke up, it was like that. 

"I saw part of her arm transform yesterday, but I haven't talked to her since then, so I don't know much else."

"Well, that explains why she was lying to us yesterday," the British boy mused.

"That would also explain the Pure Black Aura I felt yesterday," the mutant brunette mused as the black girl turn and look at her suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" Abigail asked.

"Well you see, when we were visiting Rachel-san yesterday, I could have sworn I saw a Pure Black Aura emitting from her bandaged arm," the curly haired girl explained.

"And you didn't tell us this, why!?" Nigel asked in an irritated tone.

"Hey, I've been sick, okay!?" she answered. "It's really hard to get a gage on which auras are real, and which ones are just my cold screwing with my powers."

"Oh, poor Numbuh 362…eww! Her hands are so dry and wrinkly! She needs some moisturizer," Kuki chirped as she pulled out her Rainbow Monkey shaped hand lotion.

"I wouldn't do that, Numbuh 3," Patton retorted.

"Well why not? She clearly needs it," the Asian girl snapped back.

"Rachel left a note saying not to disturb her, under any circumstances," he explained.

"Oh," she replied.

"Well, that's not surprising," said Nigel.

"Yeap, typical Rachel; she doesn't want to get anyone else involved," agreed Patton.

"Well then let's let her battle Grandfather, but just send someone in ta' keep an eye on her," Abigail suggested.

Her Sector leader even lit up with enthusiasm upon hearing that suggestion.

"That's a great idea, Numbuh 5!" he replied.

Patton, however, just smirked upon hearing Abigail's idea.

"Well, then in that case, I'll-"

"I'll go in, seeing as how I have a connection that old geezer," the mutant girl replied, making the rest of her Sector nod in agreement. "But I'm still pretty sick, so someone should probably go in with me for back-up."

"Well, who are ya' thinkin' of sending in?" Wally asked. He was only more confused when he saw his teammates eyeing him deviously. "Why are you guys looking me like that? What did I-"

He finally got it.

"Awe, no fair!" he replied. "Why do I have to go in!?"

"Because you're gullible, and expendable," answered Hoagie.

"That he is, baby," Abigail replied with a hearty laugh.

"What!?" he asked in a panicky tone.

"Don't worry, Numbuh 4. What we mean to say is that it makes more sense for you to go in with Two-Seventy-Three," Nigel explained. "Physically, you're one of the strongest operatives in the Kids Next Door, making you a match for any sort of sticky situation you might find yourselves in."

"Yeah, but wouldn't it make more sense for you to go in? He's your grandpa," Wally pointed out.

"Oh believe me, Numbuh 4, I'd love to go in there, myself," the British boy replied. "But this is Rachel's fight, and we need to be there for assistance, only."

It was this point that the short Aussie sighed in defeat; he really didn't want to go in there, and yet his friend had made his case so well that he couldn't really argue his own case, now.

"Alright, I'll go," he replied.

"That's the spirit, Wally," Kuki happily replied while patting the boy on the back, making him smile.

But this little scene did not fill Patton with warmth or joy. If anything, it made him even angrier than he'd been before as he opened his mouth to speak.

"Now wait just a minute!" he barked. "Why do they get to go in!?"

"Oh please, Freezer Boy," replied Alex. "You wouldn't be nearly as useful as the two of us."

"I'm the one who found out, first! I'm the one who cares about her well being! I should be the one to go in!" the Drill Sergeant declared.

"Oh, and so your feelings and your bravery merit you over your capability, now?" the mutant girl asked, coldly. "You really think that you can stand up to Grandfather with just raw determination?"

This made Patton angry; sure, she'd made a good point. But that didn't matter to him. Far from it, in fact, as he spoke up again.

"Listen, you little-"

"Alright, break it up, you two!" replied Abigail as she came between the two acquaintances. "Now, Numbuh 60, I know she's got a sassy mouth, but Alex does have a point; sendin' her in is our best option."

"Don't feed me that baloney when you're sending Numbuh 4 in with her!" he snapped.

"See previous conversation for more details, "Alex remarked.

"Can it, mutant girl!" the boy snapped back.

"Why don't you just shut up and listen fo' once!" Abigail growled, startling the Drill Sergeant in the process.

"First of all, Alex can cover fo' Numbuh 4, if he needs it," she explained. "Second; she has a telepathic link with Grandfather, makin' is easier fo' us ta' track him down."

"Third; not only is she immune ta' Grandfathers' Reality Warpin' powers, but she's also just as powerful as him," she continued.

"And fourth; she cares about Numbuh 362 just as much as you."

Now, she was done, having said her piece, which left both Patton, and Alex standing there in shock.

"Abby-sama…," the mutant girl said with dreamy, fan-girlish glee.

Unfortunately, this did not sit well with Patton. He knew that his fellow operative was correct, and yet, he still couldn't accept it. Why was he not needed?

"I don't care! I have to go in!" the raven haired boy replied.

"We understand, Numbuh 60," Nigel replied. "But you need to realize that she's not just your responsibility."

"I know that, Nigel! But I can't just sit here and do nothing!" the boy yelled back. "It's my fault she became a Citizombie the first time, I won't let him turn her into his puppet, not again…"

"And yo' efforts are noble, Patton," Abigail commented while resting a hand on his shoulder, much to the young boy's surprise.

"But ya' don't have any power of yo' own. How long could you possible resist his influence?"

"But-"

"Suppose if he put you under his control and used you against Numbuh 362. How would that be helpin' us, or her, exactly?" she asked as the boy lowered his head. "Besides, last I checked, this was her fight."

That made Patton look at the black girl again as he was reminded of something; this was Rachel's fight, not his. 

The boy was doing exactly what he'd tried not to do the day before; making this about himself. And to make matters worse, going against her wishes.

Sure, he could go in there and take out a few (hundred) Citizombies Terminator style, and it would help her out. But what were the odds of Grandfather finding and brainwashing him again? Pretty likely.

More importantly; what were the odds he'd try to take out his own revenge on Grandfather, even though it was Rachel who was suffering? Again, pretty likely.

With a clench of his fists, Patton finally let out a deep sigh of exasperation.

"Okay…," was his one reply, much to the surprise of his acquaintances.

"What!?" Hoagie asked. "But you were so determined to go in a few seconds ago!"

"I know. But Rachel made me promise that I'd let her handle this on her own," Patton explained. "As much as I want to go in and protect her, I'm just going to have to trust that she'll be okay."

"Don't worry. We get it, lover boy," Abigail teased.

Much to his embarrassment, the rest of her friends began snickering along with her.

"What? No!" said Patton as he looked away, unable to hide the red blush that (now) covered his face.

He then felt a hand rest itself on his shoulder, only to find that it was only Nigel when he turned around.

"Patton-"

"Oh, not you, too, Numbuh 1!" he cringed.

"Actually, I just wanted to say that I'm glad to see you back on the sane side of things," the Brit replied.

This made Patton smile as the two shook hands.

"Thanks, Nigel," the boy replied.

"Say, Numbuh 1?" Kuki asked. "I just thought of something; if Numbuh 362 is asleep, and we're all in here, then who's going to watch Global Command?"

The room became dead silent once again. 

It was a simple question, one that neither Sector V, nor Patton could answer off the top of their head. Mainly because, well, they didn't have many options.

Well, they had one option. But that may prove to be bit more trouble than it was worth.  
………………………………………………………..

Right now, Fanny was quite comfortable. Sure, she hadn't left her room (or house) in the last few days, but things really weren't that bad. 

At least she was sitting on her big Rainbow Monkey bed instead of the couch. Why with her fret warm underneath the matching comforter, and her "Get Better Soon" Rainbow Monkey close to her chest, the redhead felt like it was a day off school than a day away from MoonBase.

And besides, all this time off work meant that she catch up on the latest episode of the new Rainbow Monkey show. Heck, her dad even promised to bring her home a whole pint of Cookies and Cream Ice Cream, just for her.

No doubt about it, it was certainly a lot better than the last time she'd been sick.

Now if only her communicator didn't keep going off every five minutes. Don't people know she's still out sick? 

Hearing the beeper go off again made her roll her emerald eyes in disbeleif.

"Now who's callin' me?" she thought to herself as she picked up the device.

"You have one video message…from a desperate Sector V," the communicator announced.

Fanny gave a little huff as she placed the communicator down, and returned to watching her show. 

But after the beeper went off a few more times, however, (and over the next few minutes) her rage finally showed itself as she picked up the little communicator and opened it up.

And who else was she greeted by, then the smiling, happy faces of Kuki, Hoagie and Alex?

"This had better be good, Sector V! Do you have ANY idea how sick I am!?" she screeched at the monitor before rubbing her sore throat.

"Hey, at least you get to relax!" Hoagie retorted. "You should try staying up all night tinkering with your latest invention, sometime. Especially when you've got a deadline to meet."

"More to the point; Nihow, 86-chan!" Alex cutely chirped as Fanny cringed at that hated nickname.

"Hi, 86-chan!" Kuki happily chirped.

"What!?" she screeched. "Now you've got her saying it!?"

"Oh, don't be silly," the Asian girl replied. "I think it's cute!"

"And you shouldn't scream so much. Otherwise, you'll never get better," replied Alex.

"More to the point; is there a reason that ya' idiots called!?" the Irish girl asked.

"Actually, Numbuh 86, we called ta' ask ya' fo' a favour," Abigail explained as she cut in between the trio.

Fanny raised an eyebrow in suspicion when she heard that.

"What kind'a favour?" she asked.

"Well; let's just say it has to do with an organization, a Moon Base that needs watching, and the right commanding officer for the job," Hoagie flirtatiously explained.

"Please, 86-chan?" Kuki and Alex asked simultaneously.

"Hmm, let me think…uh…NO!" she screamed into the monitor. "Why should I waste my valuable time helping' out a bunch of losers like you morons!? What did ya' do this time, anyway? Lose yer' Rainbow Munchies cereal!? Give me a break!"

But while Sector V chose to control their budding anger towards their superior, Patton wasn't so fortunate. 

Sure, he couldn't stand it whenever the Irish banshee arrogantly shot her mouth off, either, but this was inexcusable.

Here they were, wasting valuable time, and she could care less about what kind of danger they were, let alone even be bothered to know what the situation was.

Someone had to put an end to this stupid shouting contest, and now. So the Drill Sergeant made his way over towards the monitor desk and slammed his gloved hands down onto the keyboard, silencing the banshee at once.

"Listen, Fulbright! You better get your lazy butt up here, right now! Otherwise, Rachel might be in serious trouble!"Patton screamed at the monitor.

And as he did, he watched closely as the redheads' expression relaxed from a look of pure rage, to one of dumb founded confusion.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"See for yourself," Patton answered while pointing towards his sleeping Supreme Leader.

Fannys' emerald eyes widened in horror when she saw her friends' condition. Her hand, the unsettled look of her eyelids, her elongated arm; it was a terrifying sight, to be sure. Especially for the (now) speechless redhead.

"Wha…What happened?" the Irish girl asked.

"There's no time to explain, Numbuh 86," Nigel replied. " All we need you to do for the time being is come to Global Command and watch over the Kids Next Door, for awhile."

"Alright. Just give me some time ta' get dressed and I'll be up there within the hour. Numbuh 86, out," said Fanny as the screen went to black.

As soon as the monitor went black, the small group breathed a sigh of relief. At least they had someone to watch over the organization, for now.

"Now, with that out of the way, I think it's about time you and Numbuh 4 went into Rachel's mind, Two-Seventy-Three," said Nigel as he turned to face Wally and Alex.

"Hai," the mutant brunette replied as she and her short Aussie friend walked over towards their friend and commander.

"Wait!" cried Hoagie. "This'll be a great chance to test my new invention!"

Reaching into his bag of 2x4 goods, the jolly looking boy pulled out a pair of small, ear shaped devices.

"Say hello to the-  
…………………………………….  
 **Kids Next Door E.A.R.L.O.B.E.R.**

 **Ear Artillery Receptor Links Opinions to Brainwave Emergency Receiver**  
…………………………………….

The plump pilot began attaching the odd devices to his friends ears, leaving them in utter confusion before he backed away from the pair.

"So I'm guessing this thing works like a cellphone, Hoagie-kun," Alex asked.

"Sort of," he answered. "Any words or thoughts you say or think will be transferred through the EARLOBERS, and come out through the Brain Wave Receiver for us to hear."

"That way, you guys can communicate to us any comments, findings, or cool jokes you want us to hear!" he finished.

"I see. Alright then, let's go, Wallabee-kun," the mutant brunette replied. 

Having said her piece, she held out her hand to her short friend. Wally, however, cringed at the sight.

"No way! If there's one thing you're not going ta' get me ta' do, it's hold your hand!" the Aussie replied.

"Just give me your hand," Alex replied in an irritated tone.

She hoped he would've given up and done what she asked, by now. But Wally being, well Wally just stuck his nose up in the air. Now, Alex was mad.

Realizing that this was no time for a speech, she quickly grabbed his hand, much to his dismay. Now with that out of the way, her face became calm as she proceeded to place her slender fingers on her friend and leaders' forehead.

"Now just relax, and let your mind go blank, Wallabee-kun…"

"That shouldn't be too hard," Abigail quietly whispered to her teammates who started giggling.

Wally just shot them a glare before he closed his green eyes.

End Chap. 7


	8. Victorian Tea Party

Right now, Rachel felt a bit silly. If she felt like she was having deja vu sneaking around Arctic Base the day before, she was definitely feeling it now. 

All this sneaking around, hiding in the shadows, the eerie silence that was in the air; it really felt like a mission from the old days, especially when you considered that her target in question was akin to a super powered Bond villain. 

But that would have to wait for a bit now that Rachel was taking coverage behind a gigantic boulder. True, she had an important mission to accomplish. But at least for the time being, the young girl decided to take a break and catch her breath.

As she did, though, the young girl couldn't help but look sorrowfully at her surroundings. A short while ago, her dream realm had been sunny, with lush grass and a wide variety of colourful flowers. It represented her true ideal of tranquility. 

Now, it was a desolate, lifeless place. It had no vegetation, no interesting scenery, not even a hint of sunshine from beneath the greenish, polluted looking sky.

Rachel sighed; the sooner she banished the demonic old man from her mind, the better. If she ever found him, that is. It had been almost twenty minutes since she arrived, and still no sign of him. It was almost like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. Not that that was going to stop her, however.

" _Now if I was an egotistical villain, where would I hide?_ " Rachel thought to herself.

She got her answer, though, when she turned around and stood to face a beautifully detailed, grand Victorian styled manor.  
The young girl let out an small, annoyed sigh at this sight; she should have seen this coming.

After gracefully running over to the side of the manor, the young blonde used her staff as a pole vault and catapulted herself into the air. She back flipped into the (nearest) open window on the top floor, and landed softly on her feet; she was in.  
Quietly, the blonde warrior tiptoed her way towards a dim light at the end of the dark hallway; if Grandfather was anywhere in this house, it had to be that particular room. 

Even as she inched her way towards the room, Rachel couldn't help but feel a tinge of suspicion forming the pit of her stomach. And for good reason, too; this all seemed a bit too easy, even for her. She'd finally reached her enemy's lair, but there were no Citizombies on guard, or watch duty. 

Heck, it also seemed odd that there just happened to be a window open for her to crawl into. Especially in a dream, where there was no breeze to speak of. That's when it hit her; he'd been expecting her.

"Welcome, My Dear," said Grandfather, startling Rachel.

His polite tone was calm, and inviting; it was the kind of delivery that should make anyone feel at home. The young blonde, however, wasn't buying his act for a second. With both hands tightly gripped around her staff, she charged into the room.  
But as she turned to enter the room, she couldn't help but feel her eyes widen with wonder at what she saw before her.

There were windows and pictures of the Uno family hanging from the crimson painted walls, a small fire place complimented (perfectly) by the grey carpet draped across the floor, and a small, yet decorative dining table in the centre.

And who else was waiting at the table than the yellow eyed man himself? He sat in a tall, Victorian styled chair, his chin resting on top of his folded hands, and that same evil, yet amused smile grazed his old face.

"So, you came in through the window, I presume?" he asked.

His question snapped the young girl out of her dazed state of mind and allowing her to return to her usual stern, authoritative composure.

"Of course," she replied. "An espionage will always take advantage of the safest route they can find."

Her response made Grandfather chuckle.

"Yes, I am aware," the satanic man replied.

The room went silent for a moment as Rachel continued to observe the gorgeous room.

"So…what is all this?" the young blonde asked.

"Well, I figured that if you were coming to defeat me, I should try and persuade you in a more sophisticated manner," he explained.

"How…courtious of you…,"the young girl replied uncomfortably.

It really was unsettling just how much trouble he had gone to in order to make her feel welcome, even as he continued to smirk arrogantly at her.

"I had a feeling you might say that," he replied as he floated over towards the young girl. "Although, your dull attire could use some work."

Before she could even object to that statement, Rachel fell silent as he wrapped his hand around her left shoulder. When he removed it, the girl yelped when she saw that slimy, green glow consuming her body.

Not even her helmet was safe; as soon as Grandfather tapped the top of one of its samurai blades, and it too was encased in the greenish glow of his power.

Terrified, the young did her best to try and shake her armour off of her body as the green slime slowly worked its way around her samurai gear. No matter how hard she tried, the green glow was faster.

Fearing the worse, she closed her eyes and prayed that things would work out, but it didn't seem likely.

Was this really the end for her? Had she come this far, only to be beaten so quickly? Well, it couldn't be; she could still think for herself. Great! Still, that just left her with a single question; what did Grandfather do to her body?

Opening her eyes, Rachel looked down to see what the demonic man was up to this time, only to be rendered speechless by what she saw.

In place of her aquamarine jumpsuit, she (now) wore a layered, crimson coloured Victorian dress. White cufflinks adorned her tiny wrists, a bouquet of purple flowers lined the bottom of her skirt, and the waistline was trimmed with with gold. There was also a ruby pendant to hold her sash in place, and a clip trimmed with purple roses adorned her golden locks.

Needless to say, Rachel was quite taken aback by this sudden change in wardrobe.

"A Victorian dress?" she asked herself, still dazed by what just happened.

"Yes," Grandfather replied while crossing his arms together, admiring his own handiwork. "I must say, you look quite ravishing in crimson."

The demon was so lost in his own egotism, however, he didn't notice the young girl still looking over her dress until now. With a smirk, he snapped his fingers and formed a mirror behind her. Rachel noticed this from the corner of her eye, and turned around to see her reflection. Her eyes widened in awe, though, the moment she saw herself in full view.

"Oh, wow…," was all the young girl could muster as she stood there, entranced by how gorgeous she looked right now, and she had never (really) been a superficial girl.

"Only the finest will my powers produce," the demonic man replied. "I take it you're pleased with the results?"

"I am. But…," Rachel began as she turned to face him again. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

Grandfather just chuckled earnestly at her question.

"Because you're going to be my Herald soon enough, My Dear. It only makes sense that I should treat you with a little respect," he replied. "Besides, now that I have full control over your dream realm, I figure it is only fair that we play by my rules."

And right there, was when Rachel became uncomfortable once again. Oh sure, her staff and backpack were placed right by the door. Didn't make her feel any less at home than she did at this very moment. 

Especially when you considered that there was only one door, all the windows were closed, and the evil man before her continued sneering at her. Without saying or doing much, he had cornered her.

"I can't leave here. Can I?" she asked.

"Oh no, My Dear. That would be rude," Grandfather answered while waving a finger in front of her. "Besides, the door is impervious to brats like you. I have made sure of that."

Rachel looked behind her to see the door was opened slightly, a pair of sinister Citizombie eyes staring back at her before closing the door with an evil cackle.

"Now then, shall we begin, My Pretty?" the old man asked while motioning for her to sit down in one of the chairs.

Despite the stern look upon her face, Rachel chose to curtsey before him; it was the only way she could survive, at this point.

"Very well, then," she replied. "It is a pleasure to be here, today. Thank you for having me."

The demonic man sneered happily as a chuckle escaped his old lips.

"Good girl…," he delightfully replied.  
……………………………………………………….

Just a few miles away from the mansion, a bright, pink light began forming in midair, bringing a small bit of illumation to this toxic wasteland.

Pretty soon, the light began forming and eventually took Alex's shape. When her form was complete, the girl continued floating in the sky. her curly hair floating in the air like it was underwater, and her hands were clasped together as she slowly opened her brightly lit, pink eyes before they reverted to their natural, brown colour.

A smile then formed on the mutant brunettes' face, and for good reason; she knew she was in the right place.

"Testing? Testing? Can you hear me?" Alex asked while talking into the EARLOBER.

"Yeah, Two-Seventy-Three, I can hear you," Kuki replied. "But this isn't time to be playing block captain.

"Oh, give me that, Numbuh 3!" Nigel shouted as he grabbed the Brainwave Receiver from his friend. "Two-Seventy-Three, are you in?"

"Yeap," she happily answered.

"What about Numbuh 4?" asked Abigail.

Hearing that, Alex's eyes widened in concern.

"Oh, yeah," she answered. "Where is Wallabee-kun?"

She got her answer a few seconds later, though, when she felt another aura beside her. Turning around, she turned to see a small orb of yellow light that formed into the familiar shape of Wally. And naturally, he fell to the ground with a yelp, and a great, big thud.

"Numbuh 4? You okay, buddy?" Hoagie asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay, mate. I just had a rough landing, that's all," Wally answered as he stood himself up. "Say, where's Two-Seventy-Three?"

"Yo," said a familiar female voice.

Surprised, the short Aussie looked up to see Alex waving at him from a few feet off the ground, much to his irritation.

"Hey! No fair!" he shouted. "How come you get to use your powers, here!?"

"Oh, come on. Dreams don't decrease a persons' natural abilities," she replied. "Although in your case, intelligence was never an ability."

"Don't get too cocky, mutant girl," Wally cockily replied as he crossed his arms. "It's like you said; this is a dream. I could be just as powerful as you if I wanted to."

The girl chuckled at this in her own cocky fashion.

"I'd like to see you try," she replied.

"That's enough you two!" Nigel barked. "Don't forget why we sent you in there!"

"Oh relax, Nigel-kun. We haven't forgotten," she replied nonchalantly. "In fact, I can already sense the old geezers' presence."

"Really?" Wally asked. "How do you even know it's his?"

"Oh, I don't know," she bluntly remarked. "Intuition, telepathic connection, the fact that there's a giant Victorian house in the middle of nowhere."

The short Aussie looked straight ahead to see what she was talking about. The moment he saw the giant, old looking house, his eyes widened before he chuckled in embarrassment.

"Okay, guys. Now that we know you got in safely, you know what to do," said Hoagie.

"Right," the two friends replied in unison.

And with that, Alex began flying towards the mansion while Wally ran on the ground, feeling like a free spirit. He swore he'd never run this fast before, it was actually kind of thrilling.

The time he reached the mansion, that enthusiasm went away. From where Wally was standing, he could see his mutant friend about three stories up. But just how was he suppose to get up there, exactly?

"Uh…Two-Seventy-Three?" he asked, getting her attention. "A little help?"

"Well, you don't need my help, Wallabee-kun," she said. 'This is a dream, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," replied Wally as his eyes lit up again.

With one, big bounce, the short Aussie found himself standing beside his mutant friend in a matter of seconds. Now that they were (literally) on the same level, they began to peer into the room where their friend and enemy were, only to be surprised by what they saw.

"This is Numbuh 1 to Numbuhs 4 and 273, have you located Numbuh 362 and Grandfather yet?" Nigel asked.

"Numbuh 4 ta' Numbuh 1, we found them alright," Wally answered.

"Well, what are they doin'?" asked Abigail.

"Well, that's the thing…," he responded. "They're just sittin' down and…having tea."

"Having tea?" their friends asked simultaneously.

"Why would Grandfather treat her to…It must be some kind of trap!" Nigel declared.

"I don't know if it's a trap or not, but I want to know who Rachel-sans' tailor is. I LOVE that Victorian dress she's got on!" Alex replied excitedly.

"Victorian!?" Kuki asked. "Is it authentic!?"

"Oh, totally! It's a beautiful crimson colour, and it's got frills and flowers, and cufflinks," the mutant brunette replied excitedly as she continued explaining the dress to her Asian friend.

As she rambled on, though, Patton could not help but feel his cheeks flush red as he listened to this description. 

He wanted so badly to bark at the girl, to tell her to stay focused on the mission at hand. But the way she described the dress, he couldn't help but imagine Rachel in such a lovely dress, twirling around and smiling sweetly. 

No doubt about it, the boy was lost in innocent fantasy. So much so, he didn't have time to notice that both Abigail and Hoagie were snickering at him and his (uncharacteristically) dazed expression.

"Ooh, she's so lucky that big meanie has such good taste in women's' clothing!" Kuki enviously chirped.

"I know!" Alex replied.

Around that same time, however, Patton finally realized that he'd been acting like a dazed fool. Quickly shaking off the fantasy from his head, the boy walked over to the Brainwave Receiver and cleared his throat before choosing to talk into it.

"That's enough, Two-Seventy-Three!" he yelled into the receiver. "You're there to keep an eye on Rachel, not to comment on what she's wearing! Now start acting like it!"

"Oh, cool your jets, Freezer Boy," she replied. "I'm doing my job, I just don't see anything wrong with having some fun on the work station, is all."

Of course, Patton was far from impressed with her answer, and continued to rant and rave into the receiver for another minute, or so. The duo, however, chose to ignore his commentary as they continued looking through the stained, glass window.  
…………………………………………………

The beautifully decorated room had gone silent the moment Rachel sat down in her chair. But considering whom she was sitting down to tea with, that wasn't so surprising. 

On the surface, the little girl appeared to be her normal, mature and composed self; her posture looked perfectly straight, and her hands were resting on her lap. Deep inside, she remained uncomfortable as the yellow eyed demon continued to stare at her with a sinister stare.

And really, how could she not be? With such a(n) (unexpected) polite entry, the dress, even the tea and tasty looking biscuits, the man before her seemed less like a devil, and more like a proper, chivalrous gentlemen. Or a Lucifer figure, whichever worked.  
And as much as she'd like to try and hide it, the young girl could feel her arms fidgeting about, something the elderly villain took note of when he grabbed the tea pot.

"You look nervous, My Dear," Grandfather observed as he poured himself a cup of tea.

"Well, of course, I am," Rachel calmly explained. " I'm not exactly used to being served tea by an enemy, especially one of your calibre."

"But you are pleased with my presentation, yes?" he asked as he continued eyeing her, all while placing the tea pot down beside him.

Rachel took a moment to breathe before she answered.

"I am, actually," she replied with a sweet smile. "I must admit; your house is lovely, and the tea and biscuits look delicious. Thank you."

He chuckled.

"Well, I can't help it. I am British, after all," he answered, clearly amused with his guest.

"I understand. Now, would you please pass me the tea pot?" she asked politely.

The old man did as he was asked; he handed the pot to her, and watched as she poured herself a cup of tea.

"I must say, you have excellent table manners," he complimented. "Your parents raised you well. Oh wait, that's right; your Father was the one that raised you."

"Your mother was too busy making friends with the local society, and showing you off like some sort of trophy."

Rachel's eyes shot up to make eye contact with the old villain; his sinister smile clear as day.

"How did you-"

"After you left this morning, I went trotting through your little mind to pass the time," he admitted. "I couldn't help but find the memories of your little past so amusing; your father's death, your "rebellion" against your mother. It's no wonder you've become so pathetic, My Dear."

The young girl didn't say anything; she simply stared angrily at the elderly man across from her, all while placing the tea pot down beside her.

"I do find it ironic, though," he mused. 

"What's ironic?" she asked coldly.

"You've spent your entire life working hard, so as not to be "Mommy's" little dress up doll. And yet, you will become my doll within a few days time," he replied.

Despite his insults, Rachel's angry grimace never faltered.

"Of course, that's not the only thing I found amusing," said Grandfather sinisterly. "There were other things, too. Your "secret" affection for that fool, for one."

Hearing that made Rachel blush redder than the ripest tomato. The very idea that he was able to discover her feelings for her beloved so easily, it was embarrassing, to say the least.

"Quite the odd choice for you, I admit," he replied. " I assumed that someone such as yourself would be attracted to a more sophisticated man, and not some idiotic loser."

Grandfather began to chuckle at this fact. Rachel on the other hand, felt her hands tensing up as they grabbed at her skirt; no one insulted her secret beloved, and got away with it.

"Yeah, well at least he's supportive and caring, unlike you," she calmly replied.

Her words angered the old man, not that she cared as she began sipping her tea.

"I see," was all he could muster momentarily. "Well, now that you're settled, let's begin discussing my future plans for you."

"Oh, how "sweet" of you," Rachel humoured him as she placed a few biscuits onto her plate. "What did you have in mind?"

Before answering her question, the satanic demon smiled sinisterly as he laced his fingers together.

"Well, I've been thinking," he began. "It seems wrong that I would make you another worker once you've outlived your usefulness. Your abilities seem to shine more when you are in a position of power and entitlement, so I've decided to make you my Grand Vizier once I become King again. What do you say?"

"Pass," Rachel replied, too busy sipping her tea to notice the frown on Grandfathers' face.

"Oh, come now," he retorted. "You would have control over all of my decisions, power over the Citizombies, and unlike your current position, it wouldn't be quite as stressful."

"Perhaps…But I'm not interested," she calmly replied.

"Ah; so naive," he replied. "You're just not looking at-"

"Let me ask you something," said Rachel as she placed her tea cup down on the saucer. "What makes you think that I would ever surcome to your way of thinking?"

Her question brought nothing more than an evil smile to the old mans' face.

"Because time is running out for you, My Dear," he sinisterly replied. "Once the curse begins to take affect of your mental state of mind, you will begin to see the world from my perspective."

"Really? And what if I continue to resist?" she asked.

"Oh, I doubt that will happen," he replied. "Besides, why resist something so natural?"

"Because I refuse for your beliefs to become my own!" Rachel declared as she slammed her hands onto the table, trying to punctuate her point as best she could.

Once more, a bright, passionate fire shone in her chocolate eyes, staring down the man she feared greatly, much to his annoyance.

"There you go, again; remaining loyal to your naive ideals of "freedom" and "justice"," he retorted.

"Of course!" she replied. "How can you just sit there and sneer like you're on top of the world? Brainwashing people into mental and physical slavery, just to satisfy your own, selfish needs?"

"Well, it's not that hard when you're Pure Evil, My Dear," he arrogantly replied, acting like he'd received a compliment as he took a sip of his tea.

"Pure Evil or not, how can you think that conforming people to your beliefs is okay?" she asked.

"Is that how you see it?" he asked as he put his tea cup down. "Well, if I'm so wrong, then how is you leading an organization under what you view as correct any better? After all; aren't you really just doing the same as me?"

Having said his piece, the satanic demon continued sneering at the young girl. She, in turn, continued staring at him silently before she opened her mouth to speak, again.

"At least I don't commend my operatives to my beliefs," Rachel sternly replied.

"I suppose," he replied. " But you see, I really have no choice but to conform you snot nosed brats to my way of thinking."

"Why?" she asked.

"I was too naive in underestimating children all those years ago," he explained. "True, your age bracket is impressionable and easily manipulated, but you are just as rebellious as any adult and will fight back, if necessary, as Monty showed me."

"I couldn't have been so successful last time, had I not corrected my mistakes. Wouldn't you agree?" he asked.

"Oh, I agree," she replied. "But do you really think that all the adults of the world will just stand by and let you enslave kids like that? Especially after the way you double crossed them, last time?"

"Oh, I know they won't. How do you think I rose to power when Monty was a boy?" he asked sinisterly.

Rachel felt her eyes widen in shock upon hearing that; the very implication of of his words, they were too terrible to even think about.

"Really?" she asked. "So that makes it okay to rob people of their will and right to free thought?"

"Of course," he replied. "Especially when my mere presence sends you brats into a state of post trauma, if your memories are any indication."

The young girl glared at the old man as a dark chuckle escape his lips.

"My memories are nothing compared to what some of my operatives had to entail," she answered. "Among other things, Patton's been suffering from mild PTSD, because of you."

"Well, I'm not surprised," the demonic man responded. "The boy was being quite persistent in resisting my power, wanting desperately to remain loyal to you." 

"So I had no choice but to resort to my trump card; I brainwashed him into turning you into my slave, personally," he continued. "It was worth it, in the end; that terrified look on his face was so much fun to watch."

The old man placed his chin on his hands again, continuing to sneer at the surprised looking girl before him. While Rachel, despite her reaction, refused to budge. She simply kept her cool, choosing not to give him the satisfaction of getting a (big) rise out of her.

"Really? Why does that not surprise me?" she asked while she took a bite of her biscuit.

Grandfather frowned at her, clearly annoyed. Why was she not cowering in fear of him like she'd been previously? Oh well, no matter. That sneer returned to his old face no less than a few seconds later.

"Perhaps, but even he appreciated the benefits of being a Citizombie," the demonic man pointed out. "Physically, he was stronger, faster, and more agile. He didn't need to concern himself with those pesky thoughts. 

"He was happy to serve me, to spread my evil to those in his way, now that he'd had his eyes opened by me," he continued. "You will start seeing these benefits, as well, once the curse begins to affect your mind, My Dear."

"Yeah, well I like the way I am; faults and all," the little girl replied as she took another bite of her biscuit.

Now he was mad. With a frustrated growl, Grandfather stood up from his chair and violently slammed his hands against the table. His silhouette was outlined with hot flames, and his eyes carried an air of menace as he leaned in towards the (supposedly) calm looking girl.

"Don't tempt my wrath, you little brat!" he growled. "You should be lucky I'm treating you nicely, considering what I could be putting you through right now!"

But Rachel never flinched, she just kept on eating her biscuit, much to Grandfathers' annoyance as he continued talking.

"If I had my way, I would have disposed of you like I should have done to Monty nearly forty years ago!"

"Funny; earlier you said I was nothing like Numbuh 0," she replied.

"Oh, not physically. But at heart, you are just as rebellious as he was," he answered. "An impressive feet, considering you have no Uno blood running through your veins."

"Perfect; because I intend to keep it that way," Rachel said with a smirk as she sipped her tea.

"Oh, I wouldn't count on it," the demonic man replied as his scowl formed into an evil smirk. "After all; you gave up your Moon Base to me so willingly, last time."

That got Rachel's attention as she finally glared at him.

"You made it that way!" she yelled. "And don't you dare say I said it myself, because that's baloney, and you know it!"

"I wasn't going to," he replied. "But I might not have gotten my hands on it so easily, if you hadn't stayed and chose to fight."  
Grandfather smirked delightfully as he watched the young girls' eyes widen, and her face turn pale in realization at his observation.

"I only say that because you are a leader; a symbol," he said, continuing to rub it in. "You could have chosen to run and lead a tactical force against my minions. But instead, you chose to stay and fight your darling little fool."

"I only did that to buy Fanny and Hoagie some time," the young girl replied while she stared at her hands, the guilt on her face clear as day.

"Perhaps, but it only proves that you are much too selfless to be in any position of leadership," he observed.

Rachel, meanwhile, brought her head back up to stare at him coldly once again, prepared to take in any future criticisms he chose to share with her.

"Your mind is so set on liberating and protecting kid kind from adults like myself, but you end up taking it to great extremes despite your maturity," he observed.  
"

In the end, you end up missing the greater picture of the situation. And in doing so, it leaves your ideals as childish as they were to begin with, and your organization without a leap in development."

"So?" she asked. "Our organization grows due to the efforts of all our operatives, not just my own!"

"True; but a Kingdom needs a Queen, less it starve and perish," he sinisterly replied to the young girl. "And as a Queen, you cannot rely on mere pacifism and logic to see you through every crisis."

The girl kept on glaring at the old man while he continued monologuing, trying her best to keep her expression from wavering in his presence.

Though, try as she might, it wasn't her best poker face. By now, Grandfather could see her mouth twitching out of the corner of his eye. Not that he minded, it was exactly what he'd hoped would happen.

"Your childish organization is quite political for something that is run by brats, and not every situation is black and white," he said.

"Sometimes, situations must be dealt without logic, or reasoning. And sometimes, you can't let your own personal feelings cloud your judgement, given the situation.

"But given all of your blunders, it would seem you don't learn from your own mistakes…Miss Supreme Leader…," Grandfather said, mockingly.

"And besides, I'm sure even your precious Patton would agree with me, considering who's fault it is that he's suffering."  
Upon hearing that, Rachel gasped as she felt her eyes widen with horror.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You never thought of that, before?" he asked. "Not that I'm surprised, it wasn't your best moment."

"But you don't have to take my word for it; I'm sure he's told you that before. Not to mention that redhead, and the dozens of operatives who were there when it happened, they've probably told you how they felt, as well, I presume."

Having said his piece, Grandfather sat down in his chair, looking quite pleased with himself as took another sip of his tea. And Rachel? Her horrified expression remained on her face, but now, she appeared to be teetering on the verge of tears before she hung her head in shame. 

In her mind, she knew that most of his criticisms were, in fact, correct. Her lack of objectivity, the way she handled major crisisis, the mental scars her actions (no doubt) left on her operatives. And worst of all; that she had never even thought for a moment that the real root of Patton's trauma six months prior, was a direct result of her actions.

Even so, she refused to let him tear another strip off her as she quickly, and pridefully held her head back up. Her eyes also reflected this, becoming stern once again as she spoke up .

"Yes, I know," she responded. "It's not easy being Supreme Leader. But I would much rather try and fail, than try nothing at all."

"Very well, then; stick to your beliefs, My Dear," he arrogantly retorted. "Eventually, you will see that power can only be obtained through fear and careful manipulation. After all; your subordinates are nothing more than pawns in your game of chess."

"Funny; I prefer to see it the other way around," she replied.

Grandfather, on the other hand, began to tisk at her.

"Such a foolish child," he said. "Sometimes, I'm surprised I even picked you to be my Herald. I had so many candidates I could've chosen from, including your beloved fool, and my grandson."

"And yet, you chose me of all people!" she retorted as Grandfather continued to watch her intently. "Why pick me when you could easily target a weaker link in the Kids Next Door!?"

"Because you're the key," he replied with a sinister smile.

"What?" she asked.

"You see, metaphorically, you are the key to many things. But most importantly, you are the key to the Kids Next Doors' existence," the elderly demon darkly replied. 

"If you are turned one way, the organization exists. But if you are turned the other way, it ceases to exist. And I intend to turn you the other way…permanently…"

Once again, that stern grimace on her face broke upon hearing the old mans' reasoning, much to his delight.

"Besides; the moment that passionate fire in your eyes goes out (for good), (it) will make my victory all the more satisfying," he replied sinisterly as the girl went silent for a moment.

"So then it's true…I really would become your puppet…," she whispered.

"If you wish to view it that way, My Dear," he replied. "Now, if you're done preaching, let's continue with my negotiations."

"Now, despite my keen strength and abilities for my age, I'm afraid that even I cannot live forever," the black bearded man explained. "But since I have no successor in either of my sons, I began thinking over my candidates, and then it hit me.

"Why not pass my heritage onto the one who lent a hand in my permanent domination over this planet?"

Rachel's eyes widened when she heard that.

"You want me to become your successor?" she asked in a frightful tone.

"But, of course," he answered. "After all; even as a Citizombie you will be smart and strong, sophisticated yet graceful, and not too fair. You will have unlimited power in controlling the Citizombies, and even power beyond my comprehension. The perfect combination for putting you on par with the former Evil King of the World."

With that sinister sneer (ever present) on his face, the old man used his powers to form a small, beautifully detailed crown that was bedazzled with all kinds of rare, unique looking gems. Not that this made Rachel feel any more comfortable, mind you.

"What do you say?" he asked as inched towards her. "Why, with you as my successor, there's no telling what kind of evil will befall this world."

Now, Rachel was scared. She wasn't even trying to hide it anymore as she inched away from the sinister old man, his smirk and that evil look in his eye constantly on her, boring their way into her very soul, it seemed. Just how was she going to get out of this one?

Then she felt something graze her hand. The girl quickly looked down to notice the tea pot from before; perfect, a means of escape! Wasting no time, she grabbed the glass china pot by the handle and shot an angry glare in his direction.

"Never!" Rachel yelled as she threw the hot tea in his face.

Grandfather yelped in pain, feeling the sting of the hot liquid as it dripped down his face, and even onto his beard.

Now that he was distracted, Rachel ran towards the door. She took hold of her Yield Staff, and placed her backpack onto her upper body as fast as she could. And just in time, as well. She noticed that Grandfather had wiped the tea away from his eyes. And judging from the angry grimace and the steam emitting from his body, he wasn't angry, he was enraged. 

Not that Rachel was surprised. Either way, she couldn't help but gulp in fear.

"Why you little brat, I'll teach you to show some respect!" he roared as he shot his pyrokinetic eye beams at the young girl.

Rachel yelped as she ducked for cover, allowing the beams to shoot through the wall. She then jumped up to her feet and ran towards the stain, glass window.

Both Wally and Alex were quick to notice their friend, and leaped out of the way. And better late than never as Rachel broke through the window and gracefully back flipped towards the ground. All the while, her beautiful dress returned to her proper, form fitting aquamarine jumpsuit and samurai armour.

When she finally landed on her feet, the young blonde started running as fast as her legs could carry her. All while her friends watched her. Well, Wally watched, Alex had her hands clasped together, and was staring in awe.

"Wa! Sugoi!," she gushed.

"Would you stop gushing! We gotta get going'!" Wally pointed out.

"Oh, right!" she said. "Let's go!"

Before he could object to anything, the mutant girl grabbed her friend by the wrist and they began to fly through the air. Low enough that Grandfather could not see them, but high enough that Rachel couldn't spot them.

Meanwhile, Grandfather (in a fit of rage) began transforming the room around him. That slimy, green coating replaced the beautifully decorated walls with black ones touched up with various computers.

In the centre of the room, a small crystal ball appeared. This made the satanic mans' enraged expression relax into an evil smile while he sat back in a throne like chair. 

And what was he watching through the little crystal ball? Why, Rachel, of course. Looking for a hiding spot while she continued running through her now decimated paradise.

"Run while you can, my rebellious little lamb," he sinisterly replied. "But it will take a lot more than your relentless nature to defeat my power."

End Chap. 8


	9. Temptation

Having made her getaway a good ten minutes ago, Rachel found herself sprinting away from the mansion as fast as she could, but she knew she couldn't keep sprinting for much longer. Her breath had become quick and hoarse, and her chest felt heavy. Still, it's not like the young blonde had much of a choice right now; she had to keep moving through this lifeless terrain. If there was one thing Rachel was certain of the moment she'd successfully escaped from the mansion, it was this; Grandfather was not only furious, he was (also) on her trail. If she had any hope of defeating him, she would need to think up an elaborate plan to ware him down. She'd also need a secluded hiding spot to rest for at least a little while.

Unfortunately, that plan of hers would have to wait. For the young girl jumped back and gasped the moment a pair of menacing, yellow eyes appeared before her.

"Running away, I see?" Grandfather asked Rachel while she glared at him.

"Of course not!" she sternly replied. "I just need a little time to regroup, is all."

Rachel smirked as she ran away from the sinister pair of eyes. But the blonde was startled when she found herself face to face with that same evil gaze just a few seconds later.

"Perhaps," he replied. "But I'm afraid there is nowhere for you to run or hide, any longer, My Dear. I have complete control over your dreams, now."

Pretty soon, Rachel found herself surrounded by (what had to be) millions of pairs of eyes. Each set was laughing evilly at her, acting as if she'd already lost.

But the young blonde never flinched; she just stood there, looking (somewhat) amused with her enemy's antics.

"Well, I won't deny that," she said with a smirk. "But you're going to have to try a lot harder if you want to scare me."

"Don't forget who you're dealing with, here, Missy," the satanic demon replied. "I can always target your weak points. Or maybe, I don't have to…"

Hearing that made the young blonde stare at his disembodied gaze in dumbfounded confusion.

"What?" she asked.

"Think about it, My Dear. For all your talent and charm, you are still an insecure, flawed child with regrets over your actions," he remarked. "But I can give you a fresh start, I can make you into a flawless Citizombie, if you give into my powers."

The dumbfounded Rachel took all of ten seconds to think over his proposal before finally choosing to speak.

"Not interested," she bluntly replied.

Grandfather growled in frustration.

"Oh, come now!" he yelled. "You are in constant suffering and pain! Surely, you could benefit from living without your insecurities!? Without your flaws!?"

"Sorry; I'm more interested in experiencing failure, or triumph than one or the other," she sternly replied.

"Fine, then," the old man retorted. "But whether you like it or not, you're going to hand over the Kids Next Door to me, personally!"

"I'd rather die than live to see that happen," she sternly retorted while her opponent could only sigh.

"So, it's going to be the hard way, is it?" he asked.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake and crack. From the leftover cracks, rose a literal army of old and evil looking Citizombies. Their very appearance surprised Rachel, they even made her cower in fear for a moment as the army slowly closed in on her.

"So, My Pretty," Grandfather said mockingly as the young girl stared coldly at him. "Any last words before you submit to servitude?"

Rachel mused over his words for a second or two, before speaking up, again.

"Not really," she replied. "Other than "No means no.""

"Like what you say matters, here," said a familiar, Irish sounding voice that caught the girls' attention.

When Rachel turned around, she was surprised to find herself face to face with a Citizombified Fanny, lunging towards her young opponent with a creepy smile. 

Though Rachel was stunned, she immediately threw her staff up in defence as the two clashed. Leaping into action, the young blonde sent a powerful back kick to her zombified friend that took her down in one swift movement.

Using her staff as a defensive weapon, the girl masterfully dodged a line of zombies that dare to try and touch her. Throwing her staff up into the air, she then sent a few knuckle-sandwiches towards some Citizombies, and even grabbed one from behind her, flipping them over her significantly smaller body. 

And just in time as her staff finally came back towards the earth, allowing her to catch it just before it could make contact with the ground.

Yes, thing seemed to be going well for our heroine. But unbeknownst to either Rachel or Grandfather, Alex and Wally were hiding behind a small hill not far away from what had become a battle area. 

And just what were they doing behind this hill? Why, they were watching over their friend through a pair of binoculars, of course. 

"Sugoi!" Alex quietly gushed.

"I'll say; this is like watching a video game!" said Wally.

Amused, the mutant girl turned to stare at her blonde friend.

"And you say I gush too much," she replied.

"Hey, I can gush once in awhile. Can't I?" he asked.

She chuckled.

"Hello, Two-Seventy-Three," said Nigel through the Brainwave Receiver. "Do you and Numbuh 4 still have a trace on Rachel?"

"Yeap," she replied. "We got her in our sights-"

"And we're gettin' te' watch her kick some serious butt!" the short Aussie replied.

"Oh, good," replied Patton as he breathed a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, he came to find that the remaining Sector V members were all staring at him. And with devious looking smirks on their faces, too.

"What?" he asked while his cheeks flared up with red blush.

Meanwhile, Rachel had found herself in another struggle with a Citizombie, its hands wrapped tightly around her staff as the two glared each other down. That is, until the young girl flipped the staff up towards the old minion, and socked it in the face with the boxing glove. 

She then gracefully cartwheel over to another on coming Citizombie, and took it out with a quick, but powerful back kick.

The funny thing about this, though, was that there was a huge row of Citizombies behind this particular one. So when Rachel kicked it in the face, it caused a domino effect where one Citizombie toppled over another. 

Grandfather rolled his eyes with aggravation, but Rachel was quite amused by this. She even let out a chuckle beneath her confident smirk.

Unfortunately, knocking her opponents down like bowling pins left her wide open for an attack as another one of Grandfathers' minions came up from behind the girl, and elbowed her (hard) in the back.

Rachel groaned in pain as she collapsed to the ground, wincing, and unable to do a thing about the flood of cackling Citizombies closing in on her. Not surprisingly, their master was quite amused, as well.

But what about Wally and Alex, you ask? Well, they were still watching through their binoculars, horrified by what they saw.

"Uh, Nigel-kun; we've got a problem!" said Alex.

"What!? But you just said that everything was under control!" Nigel reminded her.

"Well, that was before Rachel-san got elbowed in the back; now she's down and a horde of Citizombies are closing in on her!" she explained.

Hearing that, Pattons' eyes widened in fear.

"We gotta do something, fast!" Wally replied.

"I'm with you on that one!" Alex agreed.

"Wait a minute, you two!"their leader barked. "We need to come up with a battle plan first!"

"Seriously?" the mutant girl asked. "I don't think now's the time for that!"

"Yeah," the boy agreed. "And I want ta' get in on that action."

"Well, yes, but we still can't risk blowing our cover!" Nigel defended.

"Oh, and what, you don't trust us to be on our guard?" she asked. "We're not amateurs, you know."

"She's got a point, Boss," Abigail remarked.

Unable to take much more of this, Nigel just let out an annoyed sigh; he knew when he was beaten.

"Alright, just be careful," the boy commanded.

"Will do, Nigel-kun!" Alex chirped. "You ready to intervene, Wallabee-kun?"

"Are you kiddin'? I've been waiting' fo' this moment since we got here," replied a smirking Wally. "You take the left side, I'll take the right.

"Got it!" she replied.

Soon, the mutant girl flew up into the air, while her friend ran towards the horde and leaped off of a nearby cliff.

The short Aussie landed to the ground with a great thud and smirked confidently at his unsuspecting opponents. He whipped out a pair of twin JOYSCHTICKs, ready to unleash a can of whoop arse on these disgusting creatures.

Wally jumped into the air, he used one of his weapons to punch the closest Citizombie he could find. Rest assure it, the minions were now aware of his presence. 

Landing on the ground once again, he then proceeded to punch a few more opponents in their guts before he started twirling around in a fast moving circle, using his two JOYSCHTICKs to take out a whole row of Citizombies like they were bowling pins, or something.

"Two-Seventy-Three!" he yelled to his friend, as if to signal her cue.

But from atop the hill, the mutant girl remained there in stoic grace, or at least until she opened her eyes to reveal that they had turned a menacing pink colour.

"Telekinetic Magatama!" she yelled (as best she could).

The telekinetic energy around her body transformed into two, pink rings with magatama beads circling her wrists.

Alex then floated up into the air, and freed the rings from her wrists. Once they left her being, the two rings began growing at an alarming rate until they were big enough to rival that of Grandfathers' physicality, himself. Alex then stopped their growth with her hands, and opened her menacing looking eyes, once more.

"Barutan Himitsu!" the mutant brunette cried out as she began to twirl around in one place at a fast speed.

As she did, the rings began to move in sync with her movements, going down towards the Citizombies and knocking them around any, and every which way. 

In fact, Grandfathers' minions went down so fast, that neither he, nor Rachel could do anything other than stare wide eyed as what was unfolding before them.

Her work complete, the mutant girl ceased twirling around and dispersed the rings. The moment she opened her eyes, they were still that menacing, cold looking pink colour. That mystique and menace all went out the window, however, the second she placed her hand over her mouth, like she could barf at any second. 

That wasn't an inaccurate assumption, either. The second she floated down to the ground, she actually let Wally catch her in his arms and even let him hold onto her.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked.

"Wallabee-kun," she began. "Do you mind looking for a secluded area? I think I'm gonna hurl."

The short Aussie let out an annoyed sigh when he heard that; in hindsight, he should have seen this coming.

"Alright. Let's go," he replied.

Wally then placed her arm over his shoulder, and started walking her towards the first place he could find to take cover under.  
As for Grandfather, well, he was not pleased. Not that he showed it, he just continued to watch as his little target used her staff to pull herself back onto her feet.

"I just don't understand it," he replied. "How could this have possibly happened? You no longer have any control over what you dream here."

"Who can say," she replied. "Maybe I have a Guardian Angel looking out for me."

"Oh, I doubt that, My Dear," the old man confidently retorted. "Now, my minions; decimate this rebellious little lamb, and make her one of your own!"

And like puppets on their strings, the Citizombies began slowly creeping towards the little girl. Rachel watched as an evil smile grazed each of their individual faces, throwing her staff up in defence as she got ready to take on these monsters.

But her back was still sore, her muscles were aching, and her breath sounded heavier than before. To top it off, there were too many Citizombies. She couldn't possibly take them all on at once. 

As much she didn't want to, the young girl realized she had no choice; if she still had any hope of winning this war, she would have to flee the battle. There was just one question on her mind, now; how was she going to get out of this one? If only she had some MARBLES on her.

Wait a minute; she did! She'd packed some in her backpack before coming into her dream realm, earlier. Now all she needed was a clever ruse to escape.

"Well, no problem there," Rachel thought to her herself.

She lowered her staff to her side, as if she were admitting her surrender. As if on cue, the minions leaped to dog pile on her. None of them ever noticed the devious little smirk on her face before she pulled out three MARBLES and threw them to the ground, encasing the area in a thick smoke.

When the smoke cleared, the young girl was nowhere to be seen. And while the Citizombies were shocked by this sudden revelation, Grandfather was not. If anything, his eyes appeared angry, like he could erupt any minute, now.

"Curse that child!" he hissed.

Refusing to loose his temper, though, the old man breathed a deep sigh and turned towards his minions. He felt his blood pressure rising, however, upon seeing that his henchmen looked completely clueless about what to do next.

"Well don't just stand there, you fools!" the demonic man growled. "Search the area and look for that troublesome girl, she couldn't have gotten that far!"

His minions cowered in fear for a moment before answering.

"Yes, Master," the monsters replied in unison as they went to their task.  
………………………………………………..

Unbeknownst to them, however, Rachel had managed to hide in a small crevasse not too far away from the battlefield. It wasn't what the young blonde would call cozy, but it would have to do. 

But before she could settle down into her hiding spot, Rachel took another quick look outside, just to make sure she was in the clear. Seeing no one in sight, the little girl breathed a sigh of relief as she sat herself down, finally ready to relax for a bit. It would have to be a short break, but a few minutes of peace was better than nothing, she reasoned.

"That was close…too close," the young girl whispered to herself. 

Rachel then sat herself down and placed her back against the rock wall. When her back hit the rocky surface, though, she yelped and sat up straight. In all the excitement, she had completely forgotten that her upper back still hurt. Not that it mattered, though. Sore back or no, she'd have to go back out there, eventually.

Yet even at a time like this, the young girl couldn't help but scold herself for such a sloppy performance.

I mean, seriously; taking out a row of enemies like dominos? What was she thinking? Sure, being a fighter and an acrobatic required her to think on her feet. But a move like that left her wide open to an attack.

Geez! How embarrassing!

Maybe she should have agreed to Grandfather's proposition; that way she wouldn't be making such stupid decision. In fact, maybe it would be better for the young blonde to become a so-called "perfect being." She could lead the Kids Next Door into a bright, prosperous era.

"Wait; why am I even thinking about this!?" the young girl thought to herself.

Come to think of it, why was this offer starting to sound so appealing to her? She considered it for a few seconds, at best. Still, it didn't change the fact that she was actually entertaining the idea, even now.

Now Rachel could feel herself going numb; she just told Grandfather to his face that she would rather live with her flaws. Why would she suddenly start to think that being perfect would be better? Was it the curse's doing? That was possible; Grandfather did say that it would start affecting her mind, sooner or later.

And yet, the young girl couldn't lie to herself; she had made so many blunders in the last few months; the whole Tag incident, her handling of Grandfather's reawakening, not to mention the whole mishap with the Teen Treaty. These were all mistakes she wished she could go back and correct, the idea of becoming a flawless being seemed appealing to her.

"No! I can't think like that!" she told herself. 

She even tried shaking her head, just something, anything to get the thought from her head. And yet, the young blonde couldn't deny it; this was exactly how she felt.

Now, Rachel could really feel a sense of numbness overtake her at the realization. Of course, that didn't last long. Because pretty soon, the young blonde began screaming as she felt a painful surge all along her shoulder, and even going up the side of her neck.

It only lasted for a minute, but she could still feel the tingling sensation on her neck as she went to rub it, only to find that it felt old, and wrinkly. Her eyes widened in realization; it had transformed.

"No…," was all she could muster.

Did she not have as much time as she thought? Was the curse taking less time to infect her? She didn't know. She didn't want to know. It was just too horrible to even imagine. 

By now, Rachel felt so defeated by everything that was happening, that the only thing she could do was bury her head in her arms and sob quietly to herself. If only there was someone here to comfort her. If only he was here.

No, Patton wasn't with her right now, but at least she could think about him and their conversation from yesterday.  
How he bravely confronted her regarding her lie towards him, how he chose to put his own feelings (whatever they were) aside to focus on her problems. 

And most importantly, how he actually allowed himself to hug her in a public place, to comfort her in her moment of grief.  
"Grandfather won't lay a finger on you, this time. Not on my watch."

Just remembering that made her smile.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish you were here, Patton," she whispered to herself between her sobs. "You always know what to say when I'm scared…"

It was then that Rachel wiped away the tears from her face, and her eyes lit up again with a fiery determination. Regardless of what was happening, the young girl knew she would have to find the satanic old man, and fast.  
…………………………………………………….

Wally and Alex, meanwhile, weren't doing much better, either. Mainly because they were still secluded in their hiding spot, which was a clearing just a few feet away from where the battle had taken place. 

As for what they were doing, well Wally was holding back Alex's curly hair for what felt like forever. And Alex, herself? She was throwing up the remains of her breakfast. Or rather, finishing up.

"You feelin' any better?" he asked.

By now, his friend was hunched over with laboured breath and chewed up cereal bits coming out of her mouth.

"I think so…," replied Alex.

Before the brunette could say anything else, though, she threw up a little bit more, causing the blonde boy to roll his eyes.

"I knew twirling that fast was a bad idea," she mused.

"Well, that's your fault, mate," the boy replied as he let go of her curly hair. "You should've known betta'."

Alex shot him a glare.

"I know that!" she replied while wiping off any excess fluids with her sleeve. 

"Yeah? Well maybe ye' should think before you act next time," he snapped back. "Huh? I think we just roll reversed there, for a second."

"Do you even know what term means?" she asked. 

"Of course I do," he said beaming with pride. "I'm a lot more edumacated than you think, ya know?"

She snorted.

"Yeah, I'm sure you are," she replied with a sigh. "Still, at least Rachel-san's okay. Even if we don't know where she ran off too."

"Yeah," replied Wally as he sat down beside his friend. "But man, oh ,man, it was worth it! Those Citizombies aren't so tough! I don't get why Numbuh 362's so afraid of them!?"

"I can't say I blame her," the girl replied. "I wouldn't want to become a puppet on a string, either."

In a fit of confusion, Wally turned to face her.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Don't you have any memories from when you were a Citizombie?" she asked.

"Of course I do!" he replied. "I just choose not ta' think about them, is all."

"Well, did you ever feel like doing any of the things you normally like to do?" she asked.

The blonde boy actually took a moment to think this over before answering her question.

"No," he replied.

"That's exactly my point," she replied. "It's like what Drosselmeyer once said; "Marionettes' are at their freest when they're being manipulated by their strings." That's all the Citizombies are, really."

The short boy was silent for a moment.

"Well, when ye' put it like that, yeah," he finally said. "Why would she wanna go through that, again?"

"Why would anyone want to, really?" she replied. "That's why we need to help her defeat him."

With that, the young mutant stood up on her feet, again, and faced her short friend.

"I'll go this way and start looking for Rachel-san," she declared.

"Okay," he answered. "I'll contact Numbuh 1 and let 'em know what happened."

"Got it," the girl said as she flew off. "Oh, and thanks, Wallabee-kun!"

"Yeah, yeah," he said with a wave of his hand.

Unbeknownst to them, however, they were now being monitored by Grandfather. And he looked enraged. A growl escaped his mouth as he threw his fist down onto the arm rest of his chair.

"I should have known that mutant brat would try and intervene in my plans!" the satanic man growled.

He took a moment to let his hands clench themselves into fists before breathing a deep sigh, and allowing them to relax.

"No matter; I'll deal with those two, soon enough," the old man replied as he focused his attention back to the main crystal ball.  
What he saw was Rachel looking around, making sure the coast was clear before running out of the crevasse she'd been taking refuge in.

"What am I going to do with you," he asked himself.

"I wish you were here, Patton…" 

That caught his attention; he looked up to see a monitor screen of the blonde girl, crying, whispering to herself for her beloved.   
And Grandfather smiled; seeing this gave him an idea. An awful, awful idea.

"Well, My Dear," he replied sinisterly. "If I can't persuade you, perhaps your dear Patton can…"

End Chap. 9


	10. Seduction

After few minutes of hiding, Rachel found herself walking quietly through her desolated dreamland, again. She had a stern look on her face, and her gloved hands remained wrapped around her trusty Yield Staff, ready to take on whatever Grandfather would throw her way.

Sure, she had no idea what new trick the old man had up his sleeve. But whatever came next, she'd be ready. If the young blonde wanted to return safely to her loved ones, she knew she would need to find the demonic man, and fast.

Still, the young girl wished she could at least talk to Patton; he always knew how to calm her down when she felt afraid, or unsure of herself.

In fact, hearing his jokes might've helped, too. Those always cheered her up. Too bad he wasn't actually with her at this very moment.

"Hello, Rachel," said a familiar voice that startled her.

With a nervous gulp, the young girl turned around to face the mystery person, only for her eyes to widen upon seeing who it was. It was Patton. The Citizombie Patton, to be specific. 

He was smiling, looking as evil as ever. 

Of course, Rachel was never one to waste her time when it came to an enemy. Faster than her opponent could speak, she threw her staff up in defence and grimaced at him. As for Patton, he merely chuckled at this sight. And rather evilly, at that.

"Already getting defensive, are we?" he asked.

"Well considering how our last fight went down, I'd rather not take any risks," she replied.

"I understand. You know, some might question why you'd run away from a fight you were capable of winning," he replied. "But then again, one can never be too careful…or too fearful."

Rachel felt the grip on her staff tighten when she heard that. True, he had a point. Though that wasn't going to stop her as she held her weapon up, prepared to take him on the moment he tried anything.

"Still, I fail to see why you're so resistive," the old Drill Sergeant admitted. 

"Why not stop this pointless fighting and give into the Masters' power? Why not rejoice at your rebirth and live life anew?"

"Like I told you "Master"; I'd rather die than live to see that happen," she declared. "You should know that, considering who you are."

"True," Patton admitted. "But don't you think it's pointless? Fighting for only the sake of a few?"

Despite the evil grin that dominated his face, the young girl never budged from her stance.

"The real you wouldn't," she pointed out.

He chuckled evilly.

"Maybe," he replied. "Until he saw the benefits."

Without saying another word, he went to grab Rachel's infected hand. He never got to, though before she swatted his own hand away using her staff.

"Don't touch me!" she threatened.

"I have no intention of hurting you, Rachel," he sincerely replied. "In fact, I'm even concerned about you."

"Oh really?" she asked, not buying his act for even a second.

"I am," he declared. "I'm concerned that these thoughts of freedom are corrupting your mind. Concerned that they're making you suffer."

"All I ask is that you let me free you from this life, and open your eyes to how much better things will be for you from now on."

And then he did something the young blonde did not expect him to do; he took her cursed hand into his own, and gently planted a kiss onto it. The gesture was so sweet, so out of the blue, it actually made her blush.

Rachel had to admit, she was stunned. In a way, it was something Patton would do. Well, not the hand kissing thing, that wasn't his style. But he'd definitely do whatever it took to make her happy. If she was down, he was always there to listen to what she had to say; to cheer her on and to help her to solve a problem.

In fact, Rachel became so lost in fantasy, she actually had to shake her own head out of her dreamy state. If she was going to win this argument, she had to remain vigilant, and that meant not giving into his charms.

"Why do you care so much?" she asked.

He looked up to face her, his pale, yellow filled with nothing but loving affection and adoration for the girl right in front of him.

"Because," he said. "I love you."

The moment she heard those words, her eyes widened with shock. For so long, she longed to hear that one, meaningful sentence. But was it sincere? Possibly.

Though considering who stood right in front of her, not likely. With only a hunch to go on, and her frenzied confusion about to reach its peak, the young girl tried desperately to rip her hand away from his grip.

"N-No, that can't be," said Rachel. "That's not possible!"

"Why not?" he asked with an evil smile.

"Because, it…it must be some sort of trick!" she replied.

"Perhaps," he smoothly replied. "Or maybe you just never thought you'd actually hear me say that to you."

Rachel ceased struggling, and looked up to face him.

"What?" she asked.

"You love my real self, don't you?" the old Drill Sergeant asked evilly.

The young blonde could feel her cheeks growing hotter with each passing second as she continued looking at him. She couldn't let this happen, she couldn't let him win.

Instead, the girl took in a deep breath, and faced him with stern eyes once again.

"I'm not going to justify that with an answer," she replied. "Besides, I doubt he even feels the same way."

"Oh, I'm sure he does," he replied. "We may have our differences, but I am still him."

"But why settle for him, when you can have me?" he asked. "Especially when I can free you from your troublesome thoughts, and give you a peaceful life of servitude?"

Rachel wasn't sure what to think now. It sounded like something Patton would say, there was no question about that. And yet...

"No. That's not right," she replied. "Patton wants me to be me; he doesn't want me to become a monster, like you…"

The old Drill Sergeant cocked an eyebrow in suspicion.

"What are you saying?" he asked.

"You don't love me, you love my Citizombie self, don't you?" the young girl asked.

She felt somewhat vindicated the minute she saw a grin run smooth across his old face.

"To an extent," he answered. "Don't get me wrong; I do have feelings for you. But I won't deny that my true love is your beautiful Citizombie self."

He looked deeply smitten as he pressed the girl's old, infected hand up against his cheek, much to her chagrin. 

"So what do you say?" Patton asked.

As soon as she heard that question, Rachel shook her head free of everything that just happened, and stood to face him with a stern grimace.

"I don't care who you are!" she declared, much to his disappointment. "You're not my Patton!"

"Forget about him!" he growled while pulling her in closer, much to her surprise. "I can give you so much more than he ever could, Rachel. I can give you everything your heart desires…"

"If you let me transform you, there is nothing that I won't do for you," he declared. "I can give you the perfection you desire. I can help you change the world as you see it. I would even make you Queen of the World, and I could be your loyal King. And together, we'll rule as King and Queen of the Citizombies…"

And yet, even though Rachel could (clearly) see the look of love in his yellow eyes, she also couldn't help to notice the maniacal glee hiding behind all of that love, and it terrified her.

"Never!" she yelled. "You're insane if you think you can persuade me, that easily!"

"Perhaps, but you won't regret taking my offer," he explained. "If you choose to accept it, that is, my love."

Rachel didn't say anything for a minute, or so. She just continued staring him down in anger, and disgust until she spoke up again.

"Forget it!" she declared. "You can try persuading me all you want, but I will banish Grandfather from my mind, and I will protect my operatives and the world from his tyranny!"

"But what happens after you defeat Grandfather?" the old Drill Sergeant asked.

"What?" asked Rachel.

"What will happen?" he asked. "Sure, you'll have defeated Grandfather. But what will become of you, Rachel? You'll have saved the world, but you won't have what you truly desire."

"I will have what I desire!" she yelled.

"But you won't have your man," Patton pointed out.

His face (also) lit up with delightful satisfaction the moment that bit of realization sunk in for Rachel.

"Think about it; You'll have saved humanity, and he'll go back to being your good friend, never to know how you truly feel about him."

She was silent for a moment before answering him.

"But I don't know how Patton feels about me," she answered. "If he doesn't feel the same way, then it'll just be awkward for him…and for me."

"So?" he asked. "How is that fair to you? Why not just seize the opportunity and make him yours?" 

"In fact; Why not take advantage of the Master's power and become flawless, like you want?" he asked. "If you don't there's no telling what kind of catastrophes may fall upon the Kids Next Door, and him, because of your short sightedness."

Her eyes widened when she heard that. Not that he cared. In fact, an evil smirk was clear on his face as he moved in closer towards hers.

"And if it doesn't work out between you two, I'm always available."

Now, she was terrified. It was just like the last time they came face to face. Only this time, he wasn't laughing at her defeat, he was close to breaking her emotionally. He was pulling at her heart strings, tempting her to give into her desires, like Grandfather had done earlier.

"But-"

"Think about it, Rachel; there's nothing to separate us, here," Patton explained. "Here we can live in peaceful harmony, if you give into his power…"

"But the world will-"

"Screw the world! As long as we have each other, that's all that should matter," he replied.

His eyes even began to glow a menacing gold colour.

"But-"

"You love me, Rachel. And I love you," he sinisterly replied. "And together, we can live a peaceful life here, in this beautifully corrupt world."

"But that's not-"

"Isn't this what you've always wanted, Rachel? To be with me? To not care about your role? Your responsibilities? Or who you are?" the Citizombie asked as he moved in closer towards her face.

Rachel tried her best to resist, to not give into what he was saying. And yet, the longer she gazed into his glowing yellow eyes, the more she couldn't look away. The more she felt herself sinking deeper and deeper into them.

"Yes…," she said.

Her tone was low, almost emotionless sounding. In fact, her chocolate eyes soon glazed over into an entranced looking state. And pretty soon, her eyelids drooped down while her other hand (slowly) loosened its tight grip on her staff.

Next thing she knew, the young girl had embraced him in a tight, loving hug.

"I want you, Patton…I need you…," she said. "Please don't leave me."

Pretty soon, he had his arms wrapped around her waist.

"I'll always be at your side, Rachel. I promise you," he replied.

"Kiss me," she said.

"It'll be my pleasure," he replied.

The old Drill Sergeant chuckled as he watched her close her eyes and pucker her lips up for a kiss. Noticing that she was now within his grasp, he cupped the girl's chin and slowly leaned in to kiss her lips.

Meanwhile, Alex found herself flying high above the ground, still looking for her friend. Well, that's what she had been doing. For now, the young brunette and stopped to simply stretch her arms out. 

She'd been looking for Rachel for so long, it felt like an hour had passed by since she began her search. And maybe she and Wally really did lose an hour, she couldn't be sure. 

Right now, all she could do was let out a groan as she stretched her right arm out as far as it would go.

"This is ridiculous," the mutant girl said out loud. "How far could she have gotten, anyway?"

She finally caught a break a moment later when she turned to see Rachel. At first, Alex's brown eyes lit up with glee. But they soon widened in horror at what she saw; the Citizombie 

Patton was right in front of Rachel, ready to give her a kiss.

"Rachel-san, don't do it!" she screamed. "Rachel-san, it's a trap!"

But no answer came. Now, the brunette was annoyed.

"Oh, screw this!" she declared.

Without a second to spare, the mutant girl flew towards the "couple" at break neck speed, determined to put an end to this little charade at once.

But then something strange happened; a pair of menacing, yellow eyes appeared before the young brunette, forcing her to stop short, and in mid-air, no less.

"Where do you think you're going, My Dear?" asked Grandfather.

She shot him a glare.

"Where do you think?" she asked. "Now get out of my way, you old geezer!"

"I don't think so!" he bellowed. "You will not be interfering in my plans, this time, you freak of nature!"

Now Alex was mad; no one called her a freak and got away with it.

"Really?" she asked. "Why don't you say that to my face, instead of hiding in your mansion like a coward? Unless you're just afraid that I'll drop you like a bag of-"

But she couldn't finish that sentence. Rather, the girl began to scream in agony while the satanic man (before her) zapped her with his pyrokinetic eye beams. He cackled evilly, taking great pleasure in her suffering.

Wally wasn't faring much better, either. Somewhere else across the dream plane, he too, found himself screaming (in agony) at the touch of Grandfather's eye beams.

Naturally, the pain he inflicted to their soul selves was beginning to take a toll on their physical forms in the real world. And it certainly did not go unnoticed. 

Nigel, Hoagie, Kuki, Abigail and Patton, they all stood there with horrified looks on their faces. They wanted to do something, anything. But what could they possibly do?

They didn't have to, though. About a second or so later, the duo were not only shocked in the forehead with a strange, red lightning, their screaming also ceased. 

When that happened, they let go of each other hands and collapsed to the floor.

"Numbuh 4!" Hoagie and Wally screamed as they ran over to their fallen friend.

"Wally!" Kuki screamed as she ran over to him as well.

"Two-Seventy-Three!" Nigel screamed as he collapsed to his knees to scoop up his friend.

"Alex!" Abigail screamed as she, too, collapsed to her knees and helped her leader sit their fallen friend up.

Hoagie and Patton had the same idea, as well. Only they'd already gotten the short Aussie to sit up the ground.

"Numbuh 4?" Hoagie asked. "Are you okay, buddy?"

"Come on, Beatles, say something!" begged Patton.

Thankfully, the little blonde boy started opening his emerald eyes. Making the duo breath a sigh of relief.

"Oh man!" said Wally as he rubbed his head. "I feel like I just road the Spleen Buster eleventy kajillion times."

"Oh, Wally!" the little Asian girl chirped as she gave him a big bear hug, much to his embarrassment.

Alex, too, started to open her eyes, as well. Seeing this, the black girl and her leader breathed a sigh of relief, too.

"Hey, girl," greeted Abigail. "You alright?"

"I'm fine…But Rachel-san!" replied Alex.

She jumped to her feet and ran over towards her friend. She did the same as before; her hand raised an inch over Rachel's forehead, a pink glow around her being, and her eyes closed. But it was no use; the girl yelped in shock as the same, electrical surge shocked her hand, much to her annoyance.

"Fudge! He blocked us from re-entry!" she declared.

"Wait; blocked you from re-entry?" asked Hoagie. "He can do that, now?"

"I think so," the mutant girl replied. "He must have full control of her dreamworld, by now. Barring us from getting back in is probably not out of possibility for him."

"So he probably knew you two were inside her mind for quite some time, then," observed Nigel.

"Who knows!" Wally replied while Kuki helped him up. "All I know is that I was walkin' around, minding my own business, when all of the sudden these glowing eyes came out of nowhere and zapped me!"

"Well, we've got to find a way back in! Or else, Rachel-san might be done for!" said Alex.

That caught Patton's attention.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I saw Rachel-san with you Citizombie self!" she explained. "I don't what happened before I got there, but I think she has her under his control. I saw him puckering up to kiss her and she didn't flinch, at all."

Patton's eyes widened when he heard that. His heart began to beat faster, his gloved hands were shaking, and his breathing started to sound heavier. Even so, that didn't stop him from grabbing his fellow operative by her arms.

"Why didn't you stop him!?" he asked.

"I tried! But Grandfather zapped me back into my body before I could do anything," the girl explained.

The boy fell silent at her explanation. Yelling at her wouldn't change anything; Rachel was still in danger. Someone needed to do something. He needed to do something.

Now with a determined look on his face, the young Drill Sergeant marched over to his sleeping superior. 

Then he did something that no one around him could have predicted; he got down on his knees, and took her uninfected hand into his own. The boy held it close to his forehead, took a deep breath, and spoke.

"Rachel, I don't know if you can hear me, but please, don't listen to him!" he begged. "That's not me! I don't want this for you! No one wants this for you!"

"I know you're scared," he said. "I know you might even be losing faith in yourself. But you can't stop now, not when you still have a chance of beating him!"

"I know you can do it! You just have to believe in yourself, that's all! You want to know how I know that? Because I know you."

"I know you don't want this. No one wants this for you. That's why I'm here…That's why our friends are here…Because we want to help you," he continued. "Everyone loves you just the way you are."

The boy paused for a moment, and gulped with embarrassment before he spoke again.

"I love you just the way you are…I wouldn't change a thing about you…,"Patton declared. "So please, Rachel…You've got to snap out of it!…You know who you are…You're stronger than this…Please don't let him fool you!"

In the dream world, the numb and dazed Rachel thought she could hear a voice; it was a voice that sounded familiar to her, a voice that she could feel was important to her.

She drew a blank, at first. But after awhile, she finally remembered who that voice belonged to; it was Patton, her Patton. And he was begging for her to snap out of it.

"Snap out of what?" the girl thought to herself.

Her eyes reverted back to their normal, chocolate colour, and she blinked a few times to help wake herself up. What she awoke to, was the Citizombie Patton. And his lips were just inches away from hers.

Rachel flinched away in disgust when she saw this. So naturally, she didn't waste any time in pulling up her staff and socking him hard in the stomach. With a hard thud, the monster collapsed to the ground. He sat himself up, and stared at the stern looking blonde girl in utter confusion.

"But…But I don't understand? How did you break my spell?" he asked.

"Like I told you, before; you're not my Patton," she sternly replied.

The old Drill Sergeant's eyes widened with shock. He then dispersed into a fine, green mist, unable to comprehend what just happened.

Rachel, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. Her victory over the Citizombie Patton wasn't huge, to be sure, but at least it was something. Even if she nearly gave into her own desires, this time.

But the young girl didn't have time to think this over, though. Pretty soon, she could hear a loud, rumbling sound from behind her. It got louder and louder, confusing, even scaring her a little. When she finally chose to turn around, it was just in time to witness a deeply enraged looking Grandfather rise up from the dead ground like a zombie.

"You accursed child!" he growled. "I knew bringing you over to my side would be no small task, but for some reason, you keep resisting me! I even gave you your little fool on a silver platter, and you REJECTED him!"

"Well, yeah," she replied. "Why would I want another Patton when I have a perfectly serviceable one waiting for me back home?"

"But it doesn't make any sense!" he screamed. "If you were an Uno, I would understand! But you're not! How can you possibly resist me for this long!?"

"Well, maybe my plan to use the Book of KND as my trump card is finally paying off," the girl proudly declared.

"What!?" he growled angrily. "But how could you have known about it's immense power!?"

"I'm the Supreme Leader of the Kids Next Door, duh!" Rachel retorted. "Besides, Nigel told me all about the Book's power to bring hope to the kids who read it. Because when they do, they discover the one thing more powerful than you."

Now, the old man was angry. Not only was this little girl already a step ahead of him, but the fire in her eye was lit, and stronger than ever. 

He didn't show his anger, though. Rather, he floated above the young blonde. His rage induced expression, however, bore itself into her eyes, indicating (to her) his current temperament without saying a word.

"Very well," the demonic man retorted as he hovered above the (still) defiant looking Rachel. "I'll admit, your antics have been quite amusing. But I grow impatient!"

"If I cannot make you surcome to my power through sophisticated means, then I will conform you…By force!"

End Chap. 10


	11. You Know Who You Are

It was lunch time on MoonBase Zero. But neither the six members of Sector V, nor Patton felt like eating anything, right now.   
And really, how could they? The little group was still in Rachel's office, waiting with baited breath for their friend to awaken from her deep slumber.

About ten minutes had gone by since that whole "Citizombie Patton" scare, and they were finally starting to let that incident go.   
If you didn't count her transformed arm and neck, Rachel was still herself, so she was probably okay, for now. 

And if anything, this group of friends was starting to either get bored or impatient.

At least Patton had something to do; he was (still) kneeling next to Rachel, still cradling her uninfected hand in his own. His fellow operatives weren't so lucky, however. 

Kuki, Abigail and Alex were leaning against the wall, while both Hoagie and Nigel took to pacing the room. Wally, on the other hand, found himself sitting in his Supreme Leader's desk chair. His face was buried in his hands, and his eyes conveyed nothing but boredom. So much so, the boy finally let out a groan.

"I can't take it, anymore!" he screamed. "We've been sitting' around here, for ZERO knows how long, waitin' for Numbuh 362 ta' wake up, while that jerk is probably laughing it up!"

"Boy, wouldn't I like ta' get in there and kick his butt, myself!"

"You've been saying that for the past ten minutes," Hoagie pointed out. "We have no way back in, so you're just gonna have to lighten up."

"I know, Numbuh 2," the blonde replied. "But that doesn't mean I have ta' like it!"

"Just relax, Numbuh 4," Nigel replied. "I'm sure Rachel's doing fine."

Though, even he sounded like he was trying to convince himself of that fact. Not that anyone could blame him, at this point. Their friend had been in there for so long, it felt like an eternity since she first went in.

"I hope so," replied Kuki as all eyes turned to her. "Grandfather's really scary, and really powerful. She might fall for one of his tricks again."

"I know," Alex chimed in. "At this point, her situation is starting to remind me of Utena and Akio's final confrontation…Good grief, I hope that doesn't mean she'll get impaled by-"

"Hey, wait, don't spoil the ending!" Hoagie cried out.

Alex turned to face her plump friend with a confused expression on her face.

"Huh?" she asked. "Oh, right. I forgot; you haven't watched the last arc, yet. Have you?"

"Well, I would've finished it already if Muffy Jenkins would just give it back to you -"

"Anyway!" replied (an irritated) Nigel. "I'm sure that if we wait for a little longer, Rachel will come out, happy and perky."

"Let's hope, Boss," Abigail replied. "Her chances of beatin' him are still pretty slim."

"She'll be fine," Patton said.

This caught the attention of the entire sector as they turned to face their superior and comrade.

"What makes you so sure of that, mate?" Wally asked.

"Because it's Rachel; she won't give up, not without a fight," he answered.

While most of Sector V was surprised by his sudden response, only Abigail flashed a gentle smile towards the raven haired boy.  
The look in his eyes told her all she needed to know; he was scared, they all were. But just like the rest of them, he still wanted to believe that Rachel would come back to them in one piece. Or more specifically, back to him in one piece.  
………………………………………………………….

The battlefield had gone silent, again, Rachel noticed. And not without reason, either; Grandfather was still angry.   
Oh sure, he didn't look angry. After all, that recognizable smirk still grazed his face. But for some reason, she could tell that he was keeping his temper at bay. As if he may erupt in a fit of anger any second, now, but was choosing to restrain his outburst. Probably for the purpose of taking her out, himself.

"You are quite resistant, My Dear," Grandfather commented. "But perhaps I can give you once last chance for deliverance."  
And just like a chivalrous gentlemen, he held out his hand to her.

"I promise it won't hurt," he politely replied while a sinister smile adorned his face.

"Okay," she answered. "But if that's what you really want, then you'll have to kill me, first."

And as a smirk adorned her face, Rachel watched as her elderly foe began twitching in anger, looking like the blood vessels in his head were going to burst in a matter of seconds. Instead, he breathed in a deep, disappointed sigh and looked up to face her, yet again.

"Very well, then. It seems I have no choice, now," the demonic man stated. "I did not want to resort to brute force with you."

"That's a lie, isn't it?" she asked.

"Consider it a loophole," the old man answered while an evil smirk formed on his face.

He held out his hand, again, to form a small fireball. The fireball then took the form of a sword handle, and a guard. The satanic man then grabbed the handle with his other hand and pulled it upward as a long, fire blade emerged from his palm.

When the tip of the blade finally came out of his hand, the fire surrounding his sword dispersed, revealing the objects true form.   
The blade was a darker shade of grey compared to his opponent's staff, and the handle itself was black and adorned with a gorgeous, looking ruby. And the handle? It took the shape of a malicious, scaly snake with its poisonous teeth and tongue sticking out.

Needless to say, Rachel was quite stunned by what her opponent quite literally whipped up with his hand.   
And Grandfather? Well, that same, cocky grin was plastered on his face while he pointed said sword at the little girl.

"Sword play?" she asked.

"Of course," he replied. "Surely, you're not afraid to match your little staff with my swordsmanship, are you?'

Rachel didn't know what to say, at first. She was still a little stunned, to be sure. But that didn't last long, though. After giving it some thought, the young blonde returned to her usual, stern composure.

"I'll give it a try. It shouldn't be too hard," the young blonde replied.

"That's what I thought," he replied. "But don't get too cocky. I was voted Britain's greatest fencer for several years running."

"Were your colleagues allowed to vote, or did you just brainwash them into voting for you?" she asked, sarcastically.

The old man, on the other hand, cringed with anger.

"I don't use my powers for EVERYTHING, you know!" he growled.

"Whatever you say," she casually replied.

With a twirl of her staff, Rachel now had her boxing glove aimed right at her elderly foe, and a determined grimace on her face.  
Then both she and Grandfather began staring each other down, first walking closer, then sprinting towards the other until their weapons clashed.

Both opponents wrestled over their lock for a second or two, until Rachel broke free and began attacking Grandfather's blade directly with the steel of her staff. Even so, he continued to block her every attempt to strike at him.

The young blonde could see this strategy wasn't working, so she went for her next move and sent a round house kick to her opponent's wrist, aiming to knock the sword out of his hand. But the satanic demon was much faster than her as he moved away from the little girl, much to her surprise. So much, in fact, she nearly lost her balance as her foot kicked the air and clumsily fell to the ground.

With an amused chuckle, the old man twirled the sword in his hand for a moment, or two, before he aimed the blade in her direction. He then lunged towards the young girl, ready to strike her forehead.

Rachel yelped before dodging the blade, but that wasn't the end of it. He kept aiming for her forehead, and she kept moving her head from left to right in a vain attempt to keep herself from being stabbed.

"Well, your skills are impressive. I'll give you that," Rachel managed to get out while she kept dodging the sharp object.  
"But, of course; I graduated at the top of my class," he proudly proclaimed. "I do find it odd, though; I haven't fenced in quite some time, and yet you seem even rustier than I do."

Rachel shot him a death glare.

"Oh, really?" she asked him before ducking down to dodge his next strike.

This surprised Grandfather, but not as much as the unexpected kick she sent to his stomach, making him bend over in pain for a brief moment.

"Tell me, did that feel rusty, to you?" she asked.

He looked up to see the smug looking Rachel.

"Well…Perhaps you're a lot more diligent than I gave you credit for," Grandfather commented as he stood himself up again.

A scant second later, though, that they went back to clashing their weapons against each other. They even locked "blades" again, and stared the other down, intensely.

"Still, I am disappointed," he admitted, confusing the young girl as he went to strike her again. "You are a being of high intelligence and skill, and yet you stay locked in your childish pursuits, never to know the true horror of what you brats would consider a game."

"I know this is no longer a game!" she sternly replied. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be risking my own life if I didn't."

"I doubt that," he said. "You're still intent on saving your whiny excuse for an age bracket, as if you actually stand a chance of defeating me."

"If Numbuh 0 could find a way to defeat you, so can I!" the young girl declared.

"Don't forget; you are NOTHING compared to my son!" he reminded her. "And there is no comparing me to little Ben."

With a quick slash of his sword, he sliced open her left shoulder, making her yelp in the process. Rachel held her wound tightly, for a second. She winced for a second, but knew she had no time for such luxuries. For the rest of the time, she ignored the pain in her shoulder, and stood up to face her old foe, once more.

"So? Who cares about that!?" she declared. "I'm not Numbuh 0, and I never will be! I'll find a way to beat you on my own!"

That fierce, relentless fire shawn brightly in her chocolate eyes, once again. And in all honesty, it only made the old man even angrier than he'd been before.

"Foolish Child!" Grandfather growled as he threw his sword up once more.

Tightly gripping her staff in both hands, Rachel ran towards her opponent until they were close enough to clash their weapons again in a fierce, even more intense dance of swordplay.

"You really think you have what it takes to beat me?" he asked.

"I just said so, didn't I? Odds are pretty good the answer is yes," the girl replied.

"You still think that after everything you've been through?" the old man asked.

Confused, the young blonde looked up from her weapon to face him.

"Whether you'd like to admit it or not, your mind is changing; though it was brief, you considered my offer from earlier," he pointed out

"That doesn't mean anything!" she retorted.

"Really? You nearly let yourself be swept away by your beloved, didn't you?" he asked.

Rachel's eyes widened when she heard that, she even let out a gasp. And in her shocked state, she barely noticed the smirk on Grandfather's face as he grabbed her wrist and yanked her closer towards him. 

And while this surprised Rachel, it didn't faze her enough that she couldn't see a black fist coming her way. She quickly pulled up her staff to block the punch as she kept herself away from the demonic man.

Once the young girl (gracefully) landed to the ground, she turned around in time to see a set of eye beams closing in on her, and fast. Rachel started twirling her staff as fast as she could, turning her trusty weapon into a shield, of sorts, to protect her from the flames.

Unfortunately, not only did the flames becomes stronger, their intensity grew with every passing second. She did her best at standing her ground against the increasingly powerful beams, but it was no use. Pretty soon, the flames threw her back to the ground while she let out a frightful scream.

Now, Rachel found herself collapsed on the dead ground. She felt weak, her muscles were sore, and she couldn't help but moan in continual pain whenever she moved.

And Grandfather? Why the demonic old man merely let out a hearty, evil laugh as he watched his opponent's continual suffering.

"Oh, My Dear. If that's your best, I'd hate to see you at your worst," he said mockingly, continuing to laugh evilly in her wake.

Rachel, meanwhile, chose to ignore him as she sat herself up on her knees; she was too busy trying to figure out a good counterattack. But what could she try, exactly? She'd already employed every trick in her arsenal, and weapons were useless against him. What could she use that he wouldn't be expecting?

Then, she took a passing glance at her cursed hand and something clicked inside her head. Something she could use, something she should have thought of earlier. 

Grandfather said it, himself, earlier; a Citizombie was far more strong and agile, physically, than any kid, much less a normal human being. And she certainly felt an increased surge of strength in her infected arm. It was perfect.

With that in mind, Rachel raised her staff and used it as a crutch to slowly pull herself back up onto her feet, much to the amusement of the foe right in front of her.

"Well, look at you; all straightened up, and ready to fight," Grandfather commented. "And here I was, believing that were determining the words to your surrender."

"Haven't you figured it out yet? I never back down from a fight…not until I'm beaten," she replied as a confident smile formed on her face.

Having said her piece, the young girl ran towards her opponent while letting out a fierce, battle cry. Grandfather didn't think much of it, however. He continued smirking as he held his sword up, ready to attack, if necessary.

The instant Rachel was only a few feet away from him, that was when things took a turn for the strange. Instead of using her weapon to try and strike him, she planted it into the ground, making his eyes widen with surprise. 

Using her staff as a pole vault, the young girl flew up into the air, and curled her cursed hand into a fist. And the second she came close to him, she punched him so hard in the face that sent him flying into the air.

Colliding with the ground, the satanic demon finally felt his body cease to move, continuing to wince at the slight pain he felt surging throughout multiples parts of his lanky body. 

Upon opening his demonic looking eyes, he came to find Rachel standing on top of him; the Yield part of her staff held tightly against his throat while a stern yet authoritative look adorned her face, one which Grandfather could not help but stare in utter disbelief.

Now, you'd think that the more smug part of Rachel would actually be gloating with satisfaction at her enemy's demise, but you would be mistaken.

Wanting to get this over with, she raised her staff high above his head, and aimed the punching bag right for his chest. 

"Have a nice trip," she said, quickly.

But before she could, the young blonde dropped her staff and began twitching uncomfortably, something the old man took note of. Of course, Rachel didn't have time to notice this little detail while she grit her teeth. It was the only thing to keep herself from screaming her head off from the unbearable pain.

It was only when she collapsed to her knees and opened her eyes that she noticed something very familiar; a slimy, toxic green glow. And to make matters worse, it was slowly working its way across her torso, and towards her left arm. Realizing what was happening made the young girls' eyes widen in horror. She did her best to resist the transformation, but it was hopeless; there was simply nothing else she could do.

Not surprisingly, the sight of her pain and anguish was pleasing to Grandfather. Why, another creepy smile even managed to slither onto his old face as he picked himself up to float over his little Herald, once more.

"Well, it looks like the curse it finally beginning to take full affect like I had hoped it would," the satanic demon commented.

"What do you mean?" asked Rachel.

She groaned in pain once again, much to his amusement.

"You're still afraid, aren't you?" he asked. "You've been trying so hard ever since you got here to be brave and fearless, pretending that you have a chance at defeating me. And yet, your fear of failure is still imminent…and you know it."

She stared at him in stunned silence.

"But…But I beat you fair and square!" she pointed out.

"True. But even if you were to banish me, you still have no idea how to break the spell I've cast on you," he explained. "The curse knows this, and now that you have enough fear built up inside you, you'll become nothing more than my wilted puppet."

Rachel stared frightfully into those gold eyes of his, but instead of seeing the satisfactory look of a villain who had gotten his way, all she could see was her own reflection. Her own fearful, terrified reflection as her breathing became quick, heavy, and uneven.  
All that work, all that time spent trying to actively banish this God like being from her mind, resisting his increasingly pleasing offers for self-improvement, and she'd failed. In her attempts to gain control once again, she'd forgotten to even consider what would break the curse on her. Was this really the end for her?

"No…," she whispered. "No! I refuse to believe that! NO!"

Her screams were no use. The transformation was still there, slowly working its way up her body. Even worse, the more she struggled, the more painful it became.  
……………………………………………………..

Things weren't any better back in the real world, either; whatever was happening to Rachel's conscious in her dreamworld was beginning to take a physical toll on her body, as well. 

She screamed in agony, her body twitched and spazed every which way, like she was having a seizure, or something. This would've been bad enough, but this wasn't be the end of it. No, to make matters worse, her tiny body was being consumed by the silky, green glow of the Citizombie. 

Patton stood there, silent, his eyes reflected fear. It was happening again. And this time, she appeared to be struggling even harder to resist the turn. It wasn't much, but it was a sure sign to him that Rachel was still in there, somewhere. Still fighting. So Patton did the only thing he could do; he grasped her hand again, and prayed (more like begged) that she'd pull through.

His comrades reactions, however, didn't seem to share his optimism. Nigel, in particular, had that same, stoic look that usually grazed his face, as if he were planning something, something he knew none of them would want to do; they would have to abandon their leader.

Sure, she was suffering. But the curse was consuming her body, and it showed no sign of stopping. If they were going to flee with the Book in safe hands, now was as good a time as any. It's what she'd want them to do.

Luckily, Abigail's thoughts weren't too far off from his.

"We gotta get out of here, Boss!" yelled Abigail.

"Right!" he replied. "Numbuh 2, grab the book!"

"Roger that!" Hoagie replied.

Not wasting any time, he scooped up the Book of KND into his skinny arms and backed away from Rachel as fast as he could. It wasn't long before he ran for the door, the rest of his Sector following suit.

"Two-Seventy-Three, you stay here and keep her at bay if she wakes up!" Nigel commanded.

"Got it!" retorted Alex.

"Wait! Aren't you gonna need back-up?" Abigail asked.

"I'll be fine, just go!" her mutant friend replied.

With that understanding in mind, the motherly girl gave her friend a wink and left the room. Nigel was right behind her, until he noticed something.

It was Patton; he was still kneeling by Rachel's bed, his hands were still wrapped (tightly) around her uninfected hand, even with the zombification moving towards it. Seeing this, the boy ran back towards his friend and grabbed hold of his gloved hands, snapping the raven haired boy out of his prayers.

"Numbuh 60, we have to go!" he cried.

"No! I'm not leaving!" the Drill Sergeant cried back.

"You don't have a choice! Now let go!" Nigel cried.

"No!" he screamed. "A good soldier never leaves a man behind!"

"She might not BE one of us anymore, Patton! Now let go!" he ordered.

"No!" the raven haired boy cried back.

"Patton!…Let…Go!" Nigel screamed as he finally loosened Patton's grip on Rachel's hand right before the green glow absorbed it.

That was the easy part. But now Nigel had something even worse to contend with; a screaming, hysterical Patton fighting him every step of the way out into the corridor. 

Sure, the Brit had a firm grip on his friends' torso, but that was easier said than done. Especially when he had to contend with someone who was struggling to break free, fighting him every step of the way out into the corridor.

"No! No, Rachel! RACHEL!" he screamed

"Patton, there's nothing we can do, right now!" his friend screamed back.

"NO! I won't let her die!" the boy screamed at the top of his lungs.

He tried desperately to fight back, doing his absolute best as he grabbed his comrade's hands and tried to pull them apart, but Nigel's own strength kept him at bay. At least, temporarily. After awhile, Patton's strength became so overwhelming it was actually starting to loosen the grip the British boy had over him.

And in all honesty, Nigel didn't know what to do at this point; he'd seen the young Drill Sergeant hysterical, before, but nothing like this. This was desperation on Patton's part; he was so determined to stay that it seemed like nothing could stop him.

In fact, what finally got Patton to stop was Alex sucker punching him in the stomach. It didn't render him unconscious, per say, but it certainly got the job done; now the young boy was bent over, wincing in pain.

"Thanks, Two-Seventy-Three," said Nigel.

"You can thank me, later," she replied. "Now get out of here!"

The boy didn't have to say anything, he simply nodded his head in agreement and dragged his fellow comrade out of the office.

When he was gone, Alex turned to face her friend regrettably before her eyes turned a menacing shade of pink.

"Gomen ne, Rachel-san," the girl said while she held out her hand. 

Pretty soon, it became wrapped in pink, telekinetic energy, just in case.  
……………………………….

Things hadn't improved over in Rachel's dreamworld, either. By now, the curse had succeeded in absorbing most of her upper body, and was (now) starting to work its way down to her waist.

Her will was still continuing to hold out, but something was different. Now, she was on the ground and groaning. As if she were barely holding on at this point.

Needless to say, Grandfather was quite pleased with the results. Not only was his feisty little opponent close to becoming his minion, but she was suffering. A sight so delightful, it brought a smile to his face.

"Your resistance is impressive, but pointless," Grandfather sinisterly said. "Within minutes, the person you are will cease to exist, and you will become mine to own."

"Never!" she weakly said, trying her best to remain strong despite the pain she was in.

Her response only made him laugh in amusement.

"Do not say such foolish things, child," he replied. "You know that resistance is futile, now. No matter what you do, you'll only be delaying the inevitable."

She held her head up weakly to face him.

"But this isn't what I want," she replied.

"You don't really have a choice, anymore, My Dear," the old man declared. "You're going to be a Citizombie, and like it!"

Upon opening her chocolate brown eyes again, the young blonde saw Grandfather making his way towards her at demon speed, and an evil smirk adorned his old face.

Seeing this, Rachel slowly rose to her knees; even if time wasn't on her side, she still felt like looking presentable.

But that's just it, she realized; time wasn't on her side, anymore. Her fate was already sealed, so to speak. So why?

" _Why am I still fighting?_ " Rachel asked herself.

Her eyes glazed over and she kept staring at the ground, completely lost in thought now.

" _I've already lost…_ ," she thought to herself. " _Everyone's going to suffer because of me…I'm going to suffer..._ "

She could see her hand quiver at the thought. Though really, how could she not? All she could think of were the people she'd let down, how she let herself down.

"Maybe I should just give up," she continued. "Maybe things would be better if I was perfect."

Even as she thought that, a small, visible tear ran down her face.

"You know who you are…You're stronger than this…"

Her eyes flashed with surprise; there was Patton's voice, again. Was he really here? Not likely. Was she going mad with grief? Probably. But this words, that got her attention; " _You know who you are._ "

" _Do I really?_ " she asked herself.

She thought about it for a bit. It didn't seem that way, at first. But the more she reflected on her experiences from the past few days, the more it made sense to her.

" _Of course_ ," she thought as she slowly stood on her feet." _I know who I am…I know why I came here_."

And with that in mind, the young girl closed her eyes and held out her arms to her on coming foe, as if to say "come and get me."   
A mere second later, she felt his old hand tightly grip her neck, completing the transformation with a quick, blinding flash of light.  
………………………………………..

Back in Rachel's office, Alex was staring at her friend in horrified silence. Gone was the adorable, petite figure of a young, twelve year old girl, and in its place was that of an old, disgusting hag.

Thankfully, she wasn't awake at this time. But now, it required all the mental preparation the mutant girl had to hold back the tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She bit down (hard) on her lip, and aimed her hand wrapped in pink, telekinetic energy with a cold stare to match.

The rest of Sector V's reactions weren't anything different from hers. If anything, they stood by the open door, frozen in terror while staring at the transformed body of their treasured friend and leader.

And Patton's reaction? He couldn't continually stare in awe as his comrades did. Instead, the boy tore his head away from the room, and allowed the tears forming in his eyes to start flowing. He kept his wails quiet, but how could he possibly not scream in agony as his he felt his own heart breaking? 

Rachel McKenzie, his Rachel, was gone.

Or was she?  
………………………………………..

The bright light that once engulfed the battlefield had dispersed, and in its place was a dark, foreboding silence. 

And Grandfather? Why, a triumphant smile adorned his face as he released her neck from his grip, ready to face his new (and permanent) minion.

And yet, something still felt off to him. Her physical being was transformed, but something was off about her eyes.  
They weren't pale yellow, as they had been the last time. No. Her eyes remained that same, bright chocolate eye colour they always were. And if that wasn't bad enough, her eyes had that same passionate, determined flame to them. A flame which burned brightly, and was staring him down. 

Grandfather's expression said it all; the moment he saw that passionate fire in her eyes that bore itself into his own, darkened soul, his sinister smile faded from his face.

"What?" the old villain asked as he back away from the girl. "But…But how can this be? How could you possibly-"

"Because this is my dream! My mind!" she replied. "And I don't want to become like you!"

Hearing that, his eyes widened in pure shock. She couldn't have possibly discovered the curse's weakness, could she?

"Now let tell you something, "Master"," Rachel began. " I am not your puppet."

Grandfather continued floating there in stunned silence, not sure of what to do. And for some reason, his old ears were picking up the sound of breaking glass. Curious, he turned his head to see a small, yet noticeable crack in the sky, much to his surprise.

"I am not your slave, I am not your object, and most importantly, I am not your possession," the young girl declared.

Unbeknownst to either party, the crack got bigger.

"You're wrong to think that you can conform people to your standards for your own selfish desires. And you're wrong to think you can change me, because I know who I am!" she declared.

"My friends, my loved ones, my passions and beliefs, even my reasons for fighting adult tyranny, they're all a part of my identity! As Numbuh 362, AND Rachel McKenzie!"

Now Grandfather was horrified; slowly, yet surely, the cracks in the sky were growing, and much faster than he anticipated.

"This is my life, not yours! I decide what I do and don't do, not you!" she continued. "And do you know why!?"

"No…No, don't say it!" Grandfather replied while he covered his ears.

"Because you have no power over me!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

And with that one sentence, Rachel had severed the strings of his control; she was free. In turn, her body slowly returned to its normal, twelve year old form.

Grandfather, on the other hand, was completely distraught. As soon as he heard that sentence, the demonic man screamed and tugged at his hair. He could literally feel himself cracking up, along with his vision of tranquility. 

With one swift pitch, both Grandfather, and the desolate dreamland broke into shiny pieces of glass and shattered as they fell to the ground.

Once again, Rachel was free to gaze upon the field of lush flowers, deep blue sky, and fluffy clouds that was her dream realm. Her true ideal of tranquility.

Now, the young blonde felt tired. She was panting heavily, and she could feel her eyelids were dropping shut from drowsiness.   
Well, there was no arguing with that. And besides; she just had a huge victory, the least she deserved was a little nap. 

So, the little girl collapsed into the lush field of lilac flowers, letting out a happy, relieved sigh before she let her eyes droop shut.  
A few moments later, Rachel found herself waking up, again. There was just one, slight difference, she observed; she was no longer surrounded by fields of freshly grown flora. 

Now, she was back in her dimly lit office. Wearing the same old, tiger striped sweater she always wore, and her right arm was (noticeably) back to normal.

Seeing this, Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. Well, until something else caught her attention, anyway; the Book of KND was no longer in her arms.

"That's odd. Where did it go?" she asked herself. Her mind began racing, analyzing every plausible explanation (she could think of) for what happened to it.

"Maybe it fell out of my-"

"Welcome back, Rachel."

Upon hearing those familiar set of voices, she turned around to find a special surprise awaiting her; it was Sector V, and Patton. They were all sitting at her bedside, and all of them appeared to be on the verge of tears despite the smiles plastered on their faces.

"Guys…you've been waiting for me this whole time, haven't you?" she asked.

Then her eyes caught something, it was Patton. His cheeks were red, and his eyes were puffy, like he'd been crying for quite some time. In fact, he seemed like he would burst into tears any second now.

Seeing this made Rachel's eyes light up with concern, and her heart break. She scooted closer to him, ready to place a hand on his shoulder.

"Patton, what's wrong?"

But the Drill Sergeant said nothing. In fact, he surprised the young girl by embracing her in a tight, loving hug.

"Welcome back, Rachel…,"the young boy whispered to the surprised looking girl.

It didn't take long before she melted into his warm embrace and hugged him back, happy to see him, most of all. 

Unbeknownst to either of them, Nigel and friends were staring at the couple, and looking quite happy for them. Well, expect for Wally; he was pretending to gag.

"Thank you, Patton…," Rachel said softly as she continued to embrace Patton.

Be it ever so humble, she was glad to be home; surrounded by her friends and her beloved Drill Sergeant.

End Chap. 11


	12. Wrap Up Party

It was around twelve thirty in the afternoon, the time when Rachel and many of her fellow MoonBase operatives would usually be having their lunch break. 

But the lunch room was not her destination. Rather, the young girl was making her way towards the Arcade Room, which she had booked for a private party only half an hour ago. She hadn't necessarily told Herbie her reasons for doing so, only that she could use a break after everything she just went through.

To his credit, Herbie didn't question her. The only thing he did was take her request to invite Fanny. Perhaps, the nerdy boy was learning to be less uptight about things, but it was doubtful.

Not that Rachel really cared about that, right now. If anything, the young blonde looked quite pleased with herself. She even had a big smile on her face as she finally entered the arcade room, ready to have some fun.

Her friends seemed to be having fun, too. Nigel, Abigail and Patton were sitting on beanbag chairs, chugging back a couple of Rootbeers and chatting amongst themselves. Elsewhere, Kuki and Alex were having a blast playing Dance Dance Mania 80's Edition, and Wally and Hoagie were just finishing up another round of Alien Zombie Invasion, one the Aussie was winning. 

The only noticeable absence was Fanny, though that was to be expected. Being temporary Supreme Leader while maintaining your own high ranking position was no easy task, even when you weren't sick.

Still, it did her heart good to know her friends were enjoying themselves. So with that big smile on her face, the young blonde waltzed into the room, as if nothing strange had happened at all these past two days.

"Well, you guys look like you're having fun," Rachel observed.

"Of course!" Kuki and Alex happily chirped together before (quickly) turning their attention back to their game.

"Yeah. But man, I'm beat," said Hoagie while he made his way towards the snack bar. "I could sure use a snack."

The plump boy then happily snatched up another one of Abigail's homemade cookies and wolfed it down, just as he had done to three more in the last twenty minutes. Before his greedy hands could snatch up another, Hoagie yelped in pain when Abigail came out of nowhere, and slapped his hand with her hat.

"What did I tell you about eaten' those cookies?" she asked.

Hoagie stared down at his feet in embarrassment.

"To share them with Rachel," he answered.

"That's better," said Abigail as she placed her hat back on her head.

The two friends turned around when they heard the sound of laughter; it was Rachel's.

"Thanks, Abby," she humbly replied.

She then walked over to the slushy machine and started making a concoction of Cherry, and Root Beer for herself.

"You seem happy," Nigel observed.

"Well, of course," the girl replied. "I actually feel like myself again."

"That's no surprise," Alex commented. "So, you got any "war" stories to tell us?"

"Yeah, tell us how you defeated Grandfather!" Hoagie gleefully demanded.

"There's not much to tell, really," Rachel said.

"Ah, come on!" said Kuki. "Tell us what happened!"

With a smile on her face, and a hint of blush on her cheeks, the young blonde opened her mouth to speak.

"Well, it was a pretty difficult battle, to be sure," she explained. "In fact, I would have lost if it hadn't been for-"

"The Book of KND," Nigel replied confidently.

"Actually, no," she replied. "It was Numbuh 60's words that helped through that ordeal."

And upon hearing that, Patton nearly spat out the coke he'd been sipping on. Of course, that would have been preferable to what actually happened to him; choking on his drink for a second or two.

"Wait? Really?" he asked.

"Well, yeah," she replied. "You were right, Patton. I didn't want to become a monster like Grandfather. As soon as I remembered that, I realized that he had no real power over me, even if I did become a Citizombie. Your words were what reminded me of that."

The raven haired boy couldn't help but blush a light shade of pink when he heard that comment.

"Sir…I…I don't know what to say…," he (nearly) whispered.

Rachel couldn't help but chuckle, she always thought he looked cute when he got flustered.

"Don't worry about it," she replied.

"Wait a minute; so in order to defeat Grandfather, you had to figure out the exact same thing that Jennifer Connolly had to figure out in Labyrinth?" Alex asked.

"Well, basically…yeah," the blonde girl replied.

"Darn! Why didn't we think of that!?" the mutant brunette asked out loud.

"I don't know," Kuki replied rather nonchalantly.

Pretty soon, everyone began to laugh at this little exchange. All that is, except for Hoagie. He was staring at the entrance way to the arcade room, something that Abigail took note of.

"Hey, man. Somethin' wrong?" she asked.

"Huh? Oh, nothing," he replied. "I was just thinking that Numbuh 86 should've been here by now."

About a second later, the arcade room door opened up to reveal Fanny, helmet and all. Her face was still red, however, and she was panting heavily.

"Hey, I guess she heard what I said and came running," the nerdy boy gleefully replied.

"Don't get yer' hopes up, Gilligan!" Fanny replied. "I would've been here sooner if Numbuh 101 didn't keep yackin' me ears off about "autograph" this, and "artifact" that! Honestly!"

"Oh, come on, Fanny," said Rachel. "You know how excitable Matt can be."

"Yeah, I know! But that's still no excuse fer' wastin' me-," the Irish girl began, only to stop herself when she turned around and came face to face with a smiling Rachel.

Seeing her friend, happy and well, the redhead's eyes widened.

"Rachel! Oh, I'm so happy te' see ya'!" said Fanny while she gave her friend a big bear hug. 

This surprised the young blonde, especially because the redhead was never this openly affectionate with her in public. Still, though, she couldn't help but return the gesture with as much heart as her friend offered.

"Thanks, Fanny. I'm happy to see you too," she replied. "How've you been feeling, today?"

"Eh, I've been better. Probably goin' te' need another day off from work, at least-," Fanny said, before cutting herself off, again.

"Hey, wait a minute! This is about you! Why didn't ye' tell me what was goin' on!?"

"Sorry, Fanny," Rachel replied. "I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid of what might happen if I involved anyone."

"Oh, and I guess telling' Freezer Boy is okay?" she asked.

"Hey, that's only because I called her out on her ballonie after she phoned me, yesterday," Patton defended, only for Fanny to roll

her eyes at him.

"Anyway!" Rachel yelled, getting their attention once again. "I'm really sorry for not telling you, Fanny."

But the Irish girl didn't need to say anything; her friend's guilt stricken eyes said more than her words could ever say.

"Still, I want to thank you or looking after Global Command in my absence."

"Ah, don't mention it, lass! Someone's gotta look after the Kids Next Door when ya' run off ta' play hero, it might as well be me," she said with a wink, making Rachel smile.

With that said, the Irish redhead made her way towards the buffet table. And pretty soon, she found herself chatting with, or arguing with the members of Sector V, as she usually did.

Rachel couldn't help but smile at this, until she noticed Patton quietly slip out of the room without anyone (else) noticing. Without saying a word, herself, she too slipped out of the room, her mind on one thing; talking to Patton.  
…………………………………..

After wandering MoonBase Zero for a few minutes, Patton found himself standing in the observatory deck. He leaned up against the wall, wanting to get a better look at the stars while he continued to slowly sip his Root Beer.

After all the stress he'd endured earlier that day, the young Drill Sergeant decided he could use a break. And what better way to relax than to do a little star gazing?

Since the rebuild six months ago, Patton had come up to the new Global Command quite often. But his visits were strictly for Kids Next Door business, and the occasional lunch break, never to relax. All he ever heard from Rachel and others how great the new observation deck was if you wanted to take a breather, so he finally decided to check it out. It was certainly living up to the hype, that's for sure. 

A calming environment, relaxing elevator music playing in the background, and a giant glass window to see space from; it was really quite breathtaking. Now if only a certain someone was here.

"Hey," said a familiar voice which startled Patton.

When he turned around, all he saw was Rachel smiling and waving sweetly to him.

"Oh, hey, Rache," he said while catching his breath.

She giggled and leaned herself up against the wall. And right beside him, too.

"And you say I'm easy to startle," the young blonde observed.

"Well, you are," the boy replied as he took another sip of his Root Beer. "So, did you feel like skipping out on your own party?"

Rachel shot her smirking friend an annoyed glare.

"No," she replied. "I came to see how you were doing."

The boy was silent for a moment.

"Well, I'm feeling a lot better," he explained. "I'm just still a little shooken up over what happened earlier, that's all."

"I can see that," she replied while turning to face him. "You were scared, weren't you?"

As soon as he heard that, all Patton could do was let out a sigh. One way, or another, he knew this would come up. 

Though given everything he'd been through, today, the boy really didn't feel like talking about it. Even so, the moment he saw that concerned look in Rachel's eyes, he knew he just couldn't say no to her.

"I'm not going to lie, Rachel; I was afraid," he admitted. "I was scared I was going to loose you, again. I mean, I almost followed you into your dreams."

"Yeah, I know," she admitted. "Nigel told me about that earlier."

Patton groaned.

"Of course, he did," the boy grumbled. "Although, I really need to thank Nigel; if it wasn't for him and his team, I might've done something reckless."

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered. "They really know how to diffuse a situation; I can see why you have so much faith in them."

Rachel smiled upon hearing that; it was good to know that she wasn't the only one who understood why Sector V could (very well be) considered among the best of the best when it came to the Seventh Generation of the Kids Next Door.

"But, that wasn't the only reason," the boy replied.

Hearing that, the young blonde stared at him with a curious gaze.

"What was your other reason?" she asked.

Without saying a word, Patton turned to stare at her with a serious look in his black eyes.

"Because I made a promise to you…No…I had to keep my promise to you," he answered. "If I'd gone in there, I would've made it all about myself. I could've put you in serious danger, or who knows what."

As soon as she heard that, Rachel couldn't help but stare at the floor with guilt ridden eyes.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," she said.

She then looked up to face him again, and paused to reflect on his reaction before she spoke.

"You know…Grandfather told me what happened when he turned you," Rachel mentioned.

Patton became silent for a moment as he rubbed his head.

"Oh, yeah…that…," he said. "Sorry, I never gave you any full details, it's just that it's been hard for me to-"

"It's alright, Patton, you don't have to apologize for anything," she replied. "If anything, I'm the one who should be apologizing to you."

Surprised, he turned to face her.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

The young girl took a moment to think over what she was going to say, she even let out a (deep) sigh.

"Because it's my fault that you're suffering," she finally said.

The young boy didn't know what to say, at first. He was shocked, to be sure, but not angry. So, Patton did the only thing he could do; respond.

"Rachel-"

"Don't say it's not, Patton," she replied. "We both know its true."

"I should've ran off and found a secure place where I could give orders. Instead, I chose to pick a fight and I let everyone down…Some leader, huh?"

With a sad smile, she took a sip of her coke while Patton took a moment to let her words sink in.

"Okay…," he replied. "But why did you want to fight me?"

She sighed.

"I don't know…," she replied. "I guess I thought you were still in there, or something…It's stupid, I know…"

"Yeah, but everyone makes mistakes, Rachel," he pointed out. "What's important is that you learn from your mistakes, and move on."

"I know," she replied. "I just feel so stupid for not realizing that, sooner. I hope you can forgive me."

He just sighed, not that she was surprised to see that reaction. What did surprise her, was what Patton did next. He took off her helmet, and started tasselling the top of her head, messing up her bangs ever so slightly.

"You really want to make it up to me?" he asked. "Just be more thoughtful about when you want to be a martyr."

Hearing that, she couldn't help but try to hold back a chuckle, much to his confusion.

"What?" he asked.

"Okay, I will," she replied. "But you have to promise that you'll learn how to pronounce Martyr."

"Okay," he said embarrassed before putting her helmet back on her head.

"So…You're not mad at me for what happened?" she asked.

"Of course not, Rache," he replied. "Why would I blame you for something that was mostly my fault?"

"Besides, I know myself I would've done the exact same thing you did…probably for the same reasons, too."

Rachel was surprised. Impressed, even. His speech, his tone, even the look in his eye made her blush ever so slightly.

"Really?" she asked.

"Well, yeah," he replied. "I mean, you're so strong, Rachel. Much stronger than you realize. I just had to remind myself, that's all."

The blush on Rachel's cheeks deepened when she heard that comment.

"Well, I don't know about that," she said in embarrassment.

"No, really," he said as she looked up to face him again. "I mean, I don't even know why Grandfather would want to change you. I mean, you're so strong and cheerful, so sweet and nurturing. You're wonderful just the way you are."

He kept talking, and Rachel continued listening to his every word. It was flattering, to be sure. But why was he going on like this?   
Sure, Patton always had good things to say about his friends. But his comments towards her were particularly pleasant. Why be so complimentary? After analyzing this for a bit, it finally came to her; he loved her.

All of Grandfather's comments about him being a fool, his declaration to protect her, why he looked so distraught when she'd woken up earlier; it all made sense, now. She should have known.

With a smile on her face, the young girl let out a chuckle before she spoke up, again.

"Well, I appreciate that, Patton," she replied. "But to be honest, I kind of wish you had come with me."

Patton turned to stare at her, eyes widened and looking completely befuddled by her words.

"Wait, seriously?" he asked.

"Of course," she replied. "If you'd been there, I might've been able to resist your Citizombie self's attempts to seduce me."

The young boy couldn't help but blush when he heard that statement.

"Oh yeah…that…," he replied. "Look-"

"But you know, you were there with me in spirit," she explained.

"Really?" he asked.

She smiled at him.

"Yes, Patton," she replied. "It was your words that helped me defeat Grandfather and his tricks; you reminded me of why I had gone inside my mind to begin with, and what I was fighting for. I might not have made it out of there if it wasn't for you."

He stared at her for awhile, blushing as bright as a Christmas tree bulb. 

"Rachel..," was all he could say as he gazed into her cheerful looking chocolate eyes, until clearing his throat, that is. "You're welcome."

"It's just a shame I haven't given your reward, yet," she pointed out, flirtatiously.

"Ah, don't worry about it," the young boy replied. " I know you're thankful-"

But before he could even comprehend what was happening, the young blonde grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, and leaned in to kiss him passionately on the lips. 

At first, Patton was taken aback by this sudden gesture. But her lips; they felt so sweet, against his, so passionate and gentle, the boy could not help but give into his own desires. To fall under her spell as he always did, and kiss back, which he did. He even wrapped his arms around her waist, deepening the kiss, even if it was for a brief period.

After what felt like an eternity, the two children broke their kiss, ready to come up for some fresh air. As they did, though, the couple could not help but stare lovingly into each other's eyes, unable to say anything for a brief period.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Anytime," he whispered back.

The two children were silent for a moment before Rachel spoke up again.

"Patton? Can I ask you something?" she asked.

" Sure," he responded. "What is it?"

"Do you like me?" the young girl sweetly asked.

Hearing that, the boy's cheeks became brighter than the ripest tomato.

"Well…I, uh-"

"Patton?"

"Alright, I love you. Is that so wrong?" he asked.

She giggled.

"Of course not, silly," the young girl replied. "Because I love you, too. I have for a long time, now."

"Really?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Besides, it's like I told Grandfather; why would I want another Patton when I have a perfectly serviceable one, right here?" she asked.

He chuckled.

"Well, I can't argue with that," he replied.

With a smile on his face, the raven haired boy leaned in and planted another kiss on her lips, one which she happily reciprocated. His arms wrapped themselves around her waist again, and her hands relaxed themselves on his shoulders.

Their kiss didn't last very long, this time. Why? Well maybe because they were interrupted by a chipper, familiar sounding voice.

"Numbuh 60? Numbuh 362? Where are you?"

The couple groaned as they broke their lip lock, only to turn and face the happy looking faces of Hoagie and Kuki.

"Hey guys," the Asian girl happily chirped. "We've been looking all over for you."

"Oh, sorry about that," replied Rachel. "I just went to look for Patton."

"Well, you better get back to the Arcade room, soon," Hoagie chimed in. "The boys are about to pick teams for Halo!"

"Really?" asked Patton. "Sweet! I love that game!"

"Don't you get aggressive when you play Halo?" the young blonde asked.

"Yeah, but if you think I'm bad, you should see Jeff," he replied.

Hoagie groaned at that.

"You should see Numbuh 4; he usually throws whatever furniture he can find all over the place when he looses," he replied.

"What's the matter, Numbuh 2?" Wally asked from from (way) down the hall. "Afraid I'll kick your butt, again?"

That got Hoagie's attention.

"Oh, it is ON!" he shouted.

He raced down the hallway as fast as his legs would carry him, with Kuki skipping right behind him.

When they were gone, Rachel and Patton took a moment to reflect on what just happened before turning to stare and face each other.

"Think we should tell them?" he asked.

"Not today," she answered. "I'd rather not make a big deal out of it."

The boy gave her a smirk.

"Whatever you say, my lady," he replied.

Then without saying a word, Patton gave her a kiss on the forehead. Something Rachel was so flattered by, she didn't know how else to respond except smile flatteringly at him, even as her cheeks became a deep red with joyful embarrassment. 

He then held out his arm to her, which she humbly took as they walked back to the arcade room, together.

"We should probably tell Fanny, though," Rachel suggested.

"Nah," replied Patton. "Let's let her catch us making out in your office, that'll really get her going."

"No! That's just cruel," she replied.

"Awe! Come on!" he replied.

"No!" she replied. "We're going to tell her, then we'll make her think we're constantly making out in my office."

"Oh, okay," he replied.

Despite their bickering, Rachel continued to walk happily down the hall with her new boyfriend, ready to enjoy the celebration with her friends and her loved one.

The End


End file.
